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Meeting
_ „ the
Challenge
NORTH CAROLINA DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC EDUCATION BIENNIAL REPORT
7,000 copies of this publication were printed
at a cost of $7,285.00 or $1 .04 per copy.
Biennial Report, 1985-87
Meeting
^ « the
Challenge
NORTH CAROLINA DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC EDUCATION
Meeting the Challenge
In the two years since my last Biennial Report to the Governor and the General
Assembly, much has happened in our public schools for which all North
Carolinians have reason to be proud.
We adopted the Basic Education Program and, with its second year of
funding underway, took the first step toward guaranteeing every child in
North Carolina a fundamentally complete education.
We began piloting a Career Development Program to recognize and
reward good teaching, with the intention of implementing it statewide by
the 1989-90 school year.
We raised teacher salaries, a critical element in attracting and retaining
good teachers.
We implemented new state promotion standards in grades 3,6, and 8, and
introduced the first state- supported remedial summer school to help
students meet them.
We began to address critical school building needs, with the passage of a
new half-cent local option sales tax that earmarks funds for school
construction.
We saw North Carolina students continue to score above the national
average in our Annual Testing Program, despite rising scores
nationwide.
Clearly, these and other accomplishments would not have been possible
without the dedicated efforts of students and parents, teachers and
principals, legislators and school board members, and many, many
others. Even as we take pride in our accomplishments ofthese past two
years, we must not lose sight of the mammoth task remaining before us.
Eighteen years ago, the Governor's Study Commission on the Public
School System of North Carolina issued its report, "A Child Well
Taught." In it, the Commission sought to determine how the people of
North Carolina could best "meet their obligation to provide full
educational opportunities for their children."
Some of the Commission's responses to that question, most notably
kindergarten, smaller classes, more time for teachers and strengthened
reading programs, were adopted soon after the report was issued. Others
have only recently found expression in the Basic Education Program and
the Career Development Program. Much remains to be done.
As you read this report, I urge you to reflect on the many
accomplishments of our schools over the past 18 years. I also urge you to
mark our current progress in carrying out the mandate of the Basic
Education Program and the Career Development Program. We have
achieved much in the past two years. Finally, I ask that you consider
ways you can help reach the high goals and standards we have set for our
schools and for ourselves.
Our mission is too important to stand still. Let's keep moving forward.
Craig PhiJfipsN
State SupWimendent of Public Instruction
Table ofContents
Meeting the Challenge
Student Services
Basic Education Program
Spelling it out
The first two years
Scheduled for 87-89
Funding summer school
Screening preschoolers
Defining the instructional day
Monitoring compliance
Meeting facility needs
Improving the curriculum
Vocational Education
Learning a living
Evaluating
Adapting to change
Computers in the Schools
Developing literacy
Instructing by satellite
Exceptional Children
Serving special needs
Child Nutrition
Adding food for thought
Transportation
Getting there
Textbooks
Adopting selections
Student Services
Counseling
Academic Achievement
Statewide Testing
Measuring progress
Graduation Requirements
Increasing demands
Advanced Placement
Expecting more
Scholars Program
Recognizing achievement
Personnel Services
Career Development Pilot
Rewarding effectiveness
Effective Teaching Training
Improving performance
Teacher Recruitment Office
Attracting the best
Adding incentives
Quality Assurance
Raising standards
Staff Development
Learning continues
Leadership Institute
Assessment Center
Distance learning
Supply and Demand
Analyzing the market
Matching supply to demand
Initial Certification Program
Support for new personnel
Regional Education Centers
Delivering these services
21
22
23
24
Finance
Reporting system
Salary history
Per pupil expenditure
Community Services
Joining hands to...
Fight alcohol and drug abuse
Reduce dropouts
Prevent child abuse
Open school doors
Legislative Services
Communicating the challenge
Representing students
Reform Report Card
Recommendations
Continuing the momentum
Providing the funds
For Additional Information
Raise your hand
Publishing information
Student Services
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Basic Education Program
Spelling it out
,..to provide each
student in the North
Carolina public schools
a basic level of instruc-tional
programs and
services, regardless of
geographic location or
local economic
factors..." (1985,
Ch. 479, Preamble to
8. 55)
The Basic Education Program spells
out the educational program that will
be available to every child in North
Carolina.
While the BEP does not describe an
ideal education program, it does
describe a program of instruction
which is fundamentally complete and
which would insure equality in
education for every student.
The BEP addresses the problem of the
unequal distribution ofwealth that
allows some counties to spend more
on public schooling than poorer
counties. Once implemented, the
Program will offer students up-to-date
textbooks, smaller classes,
adequate libraries and the
opportunity to learn a second
language.
Although the Program will mean
tougher standards, more help will be
offered to students who have trouble
achieving these standards.
The premise that there is a common
core of knowledge and skills which
every child ought to command when
he or she graduates from high school
is essential to the concept of the Basic
Education Program. The BEP
addresses all aspects of a child's
development, from kindergarten
through high school.
The arts, communication skills,
library, media and computer skills,
second language studies, guidance,
healthful living, mathematics,
science, social studies and vocational
education are all included in the core
of knowledge addressed by the BEP.
The program also includes support
services, such as guidance and
psychological services; promotion
standards; special programs, such as
in-school suspension, compensatory
education and summer school;
programs for exceptional children;
equipment and material needs;
staffing ratios; staff development,
and facilities standards.
The State Board of Education has
recommended that the BEP be
implemented over eight years at a cost
of around $700 million (in 1985
dollars) over current state spending.
North Carolina Basic Education Program
"The Basic Education
Program shall describe....
a core curriculum for all
students.... a set of
competencies by grade
level for each curriculum
area." (GS 115C-81 fb))
CORE
CURRICULUM
Arts Education
Communication Skills
Guidance
Healthful Living
Library/Media/Computer Skills
Mathematics
Science
Second Language Studies
Social Studies
Vocational Education
Thefirst two years..
Highlights of the first two years of the
Basic Education Program's eight-year
implementation schedule include:
- 1 5 1 classroom teachers to reduce
class size in grades 7, 8, and 9 to 26.
- 52 assistant principals of the 379
called for in the BEP.
- A summer school program for
students in grades 3, 6, and 8 who
failed to meet state and/or local
promotion policies ($10, 790, 000).
- Funds for instructional materials
and equipment contained in the
BEP (total of $7,741 ,863).
- 100 finance officers (one per county)
- Textbook funds ($6,579,740) to meet
the BEP provision of$20 per child
in average daily membership
- 706 in-school suspension teachers,
dropout prevention and/orjob
placement counselors.
Scheduledfor 87-89...
338 1 classroom teachers ofwhich
3 124 are needed to implement the
BEP's expanded curriculum in
grades K- 12 and 257 are needed to
reduce class size in grades 10-12.
- Full state funding ofvocational
education teachers.
- 1 38 in-school suspension teachers,
dropout prevention and/orjob
placement counselors.
- 400 instructional support (school
psychologists, school social
workers, guidance counselors,
media specialists and school
nurses) positions.
- Summer school program for
students in grades 3, 6, and 8 who
fail to meet state promotion
standards or students in grades K-
12 who fail to meet local promotion
standards.
- 1 702 additional clerical assistants to
relieve teachers ofnon-teaching
duties.
Funds for instructional supplies to
$25 per ADM.
- 86 additional assistant/associate
superintendents.
"...to provide intensive
remedial summer school
programs and related
transportation in the
local school adminis-trative
unit..." (1985,
Ch. 479, S. 55(B))
Funding summer school
The 1985-86 BEP Summer School
Program expenditures totalled
$6,241,774. Amounts for each broad
category of expenses are:
\ Tot
[aph1
bsts of BEP
Summer School
Total Costs = $6,241,774
Teacher
Lead Teacher
Instruc. /Support
Personnel
Instructional Supplies
Transportation
Total
$3,993,117
635,331
560,530
410,372
642,424
$6,241,774
10.29%
Transportation "10.18%
Lead Teachers
Grade 3 Grade 6 Grade 8
State - 2, 1 52 State - 4,069 State - 4,402
Local- 1,488 Local- 1,652 Local-2,315
Rem. - 2,716 Rem. - 1,437 Rem. - 1,361
6,356 7,158 8,078
Graph 2 Students Enrolled
Grade 3 Grade 6
^m State
I I Remediation I I Local
Based on the most recent data made
available through the Division of
Planning and Research, the 1985-86
Summer School Program provided
services to a minimum of 2 1 ,592
North Carolina students in grades 3,
6, and 8.
Participants were enrolled by reason
of attendance, i.e., state, local and
remediation standards. The
accompanying graph reflects
numbers based on data from 135 of
the 141 school administrative units.
Graph #2 shows the number of
students enrolled by grade level and
reason for attendance.
Graph #3 reflects the grade level
percentage breakdown of the total
number of students enrolled in the
1985-86 BEP Summer School
Program. J
Grade 3
6,356
(29.40%)
Grade 8
8,078
(37.40%)
Grade 6
7,158
(33.20%)
Graph 3
Participants by Grade
(percentages)
21 ,592 students
29.40%
Grade 3
Graph 4
Enrollment by Grade
(percentages)
Total 21, 592 students
Of the total number of students
reported in attendance, state
participants made up 49% ofthe total
enrollment, with local and
remediation, 25% and 26%
respectively.
Graph #4 shows the percentage
breakdown for total state, local and
remediation enrollment.
State Local
10,623 5,455
(49.00%) (25.00%)
21,592
Remediation
5,514
(26.00%)
Over 16,000 or 74.50% of the 2 1,592
students were subject to state and
local promotion standards.
£Percentage of Teachers
by Grade
1 725 Teachers
-35.50% (61 3)
30.60% (528)
33.90% (584)
Total Number of
Teachers Employed - 1 , 725
,' /.
"...to establish preschool
screening /evaluation
programs in 15 local pilot
school administrative
units..." (1985, Ch. 1014,
S. 75)
Screening preschoolers
The 1986 session of the 1985 General
Assembly appropriated $287,000 for
15 pilot preschool screening /eval-uation
projects. The school systems
selected will provide baseline data to
determine strategies for imple-menting
a statewide preschool
screening program.
Through the efforts of the pilots, the
state will gather information on:
• key components of a good preschool
screening program;
• types of costs associated with a
preschool screening program;
• amount offunds required to carry out
a program; and
• educational outcomes that result
from the screenings and
evaluations that are conducted.
Participating are Alamance, Chowan,
Cumberland, Johnston, Madison,
Onslow, Perquimans, Pitt, Rowan, and
Transylvania county systems and
Burlington, Clinton, Goldsboro,
Hickory and Roanoke Rapids city
units.
Roanoke Rapids
Burlington City « .. . City
Chowan
Transylvania
Onslow
Clinton City
"...The Board shall
develop a State accredi-tation
program that
meets or exceeds the
standards and require-ments
of the Basic
Education Program..."
(115C-12(9)c.)
School systems will use a variety of
programs to screen children in the
following areas: cognitive, motor,
speech, hearing, vision, language,
health, nutrition, social/emotional
maturity and dental. Follow-up
evaluations will be based on
children's performance on the
various screening areas.
Each school system was eligible to
receive a $5,000 base allocation plus
$1 per student in ADM, K- 12. Funds
are to be used primarily to train
screeners, purchase screening
equipment and supplies, pay salaries
or substitutes for screeners, and
purchase in-depth evaluations for
children who do not meet specified
standards.
Defining the
instructional day
The North Carolina State Board of
Education adopted the 5.5 hour
instructional day as a part of the
"Standards'' section of the Basic
Education Program at its December
1984 meeting.
The policy was amended by the State
Board of Education in February 1985
to include mandatory imple-mentation
of the 5.5 hour instruc-tional
day requirement in 1986-87 for
students in grades K-8.
Students in grades 9- 1 2 were excluded
until the State allocates the number
of teachers necessary for imple-menting
the policy without forcing
some high schools to violate class size
and the 1 50 daily contacts per teacher
statutes.
To facilitate implementation of the
5.5 hour instructional day policy, the
State Board revised the imple-mentation
schedule for the Basic
Education Program. The revision
provides a total of 1028 teachers for
grades 9- 1 2 during the 1 987-89
biennium to provide the teachers
necessary for implementing the
policy in grades K- 1 2.
Monitoring BEP compliance
Public schools in North Carolina are
required by state statute to seek
accreditation by the State Board of
Education as a means of insuring
compliance with features and expec-tations
of the Basic Education
Program.
The accreditation process of the State
Board of Education is being modified
to include statewide standards of
program opportunity and student
performance. As these standards are
implemented, school systems
throughout the state will strive for
their attainment.
As school systems become accredited
or re-accredited, their programs and
student performance will reflect the
quality education made possible by the
Basic Education Program.
Meeting facility needs
The Basic Education Program will
mean more teachers, more programs
and a need for more facilities to house
an expanded curriculum and staff.
Basic Education funding for addition-al
teachers and support personnel to
lower class sizes results in the need for
more classrooms and related support
facilities and equipment such as
offices, augmented mechanical
equipment, custodial, instructional
equipment and materials and main-tenance.
The facilities portion of the Basic
Education Program contains recom-mendations
for spaces for classrooms
and support facilities. These recom-mended
spaces are similar to those
areas which have been suggested by the
Division of School Planning relative
to various school planning com-ponents.
These areas do not signify
fixed sizes, size ratios, interrelation-ships
or appropriate configurations
for subjects and activities as these
determinations are made by architects
and educators working together.
The reduction in class size projected
for 1987-88 through 1992-93 will
place a burden on some school
systems, particularly those with
membership growth. The recently
completed update to the 1984 facil-ities
survey details the facility needs
of school systems.
As stated in the Basic Education
Program, "School facilities should
provide an adequate environment to
support all learning activities, func-tions
and student services which
make up the total school curriculum."
Typical spaces needed for schools are:
elementary schools- 100 square feet
per student (400-700 students);
middle/junior high schools- 1 20
square feet per student (500-800
students); and high schools- 160
square feet per student (800- 1200
students) . These areas vary in size
and nature according to the schools'
membership and curriculum
offerings.
Also included in the BEP is the
minimum site acreage recommended
for schools by the Council of Edu-cational
Facility Planners. Site sizes
recommended are: elementary- 10
acres plus one acre for each 100
students; middle school/junior high
-
20 acres plus one acre for each 100
students; and high school-30 acres
plus one acre for each 1 00 students
plus 10 acres for an athletic complex.
In addition, other facility standards
outlined in the Basic Education
Program are board of education
offices, maintenance shop, trans-portation
garage, school food service
office and storage and equipment.
Improving the curriculum
Individuals and groups throughout
North Carolina provided the assis-tance
and cooperation necessary for
the Department of Public Instruction
to revise the NORTH CAROLINA
STANDARD COURSE OF STUDY and
to develop the TEACHER HANDBOOK
for the competency-based curriculum.
More than 8000 local educators partic-ipated
in the writing of the documents
and in reacting to early drafts. Almost
300 persons from institutions of high-er
education advised the staffand assis-ted
in the development of the curri-culum.
Prior to distribution, the North
Carolina State Board of Education
reviewed the TEACHER HANDBOOKto
assure protection ofthe family.
In October 1985, over 3000 copies of
the STANDARD COURSE OF STUDY
were distributed to local school dis-tricts,
other state-supported schools,
institutions of higher education,
textbook publishers and legislators.
Beginning in February 1986, approxi-mately
3000 sets of the TEACHER
HANDBOOK for the competency-based
curriculum were shipped to the same
groups.
Since that time, another (approx-imately)
3000 copies of the STAN-DARD
COURSE OF STUDY and
another 1500 sets ofthe TEACHER
HANDBOOK have been distributed to
these groups as well as to interested
individuals and organizations, private
schools, other state agencies and
education agencies in other states.
The Department of Public Instruction
will continue to work toward revising
and improving the curriculum to meet
the needs of the children of North
Carolina, using a process similar to
that used during the development of the
documents
"...a comprehensive
program of vocational
education which shall be
available to all students
who desire it..." (115C-
151)
Vocational Education
Learning a living
During the 1985-87 biennium,
approximately 330,000 students were
enrolled each year in at least one
vocational education course
including those in agriculture,
business and office, health, consumer
homemaking and occupational home
economics, industrial arts,
prevocational, marketing education
and trade and industrial education.
About one-third of the vocational
students were minorities, and over
one-halfwere females. Disadvan-taged
students made up 20% of the
enrollment, and over 5% were
handicapped.
A total of 4852 state and federal
teaching positions were allocated for
these students with local units
funding from 26% to 32% of the
salaries.
Evaluating
To keep pace with the changing
economy, each school unit has
established a follow-up system to
evaluate the progress of students who
have completed vocational education
in high school. This feedback from
former students revealed that:
• average statewide
unemployment for 1984-85
completers was 6% while overall
unemployment for all youths aged 16-
19 was 17%,
• 43% said vocational educa-tion
was a main reason they stayed in
school,
• 77% rated vocational
education as above average in
effectively preparing them forjobs,
and
• 81% ranked the programs as
above average in effectively preparing
them for further education.
Adapting to change
Standards adopted for vocational
education by the 1985 General
Assembly emphasize:
• preventing unnecessary
duplication,
• documenting labor market
demand for all vocational education
courses, and
• responding to technological
and societal changes.
To comply with these and other
standards and requirements, a
statewide two-year curriculum study
involving hundreds of constituents
was completed, and a system was set up
to evaluate 20% of the vocational
programs locally each year.
Assisting with on-going evaluation
and resulting improvement are over
3000 community representatives who
serve on local advisory committees for
vocational education programs, and
1 54 who serve in an advisory capacity
at the state level. A massive effort to
continually improve vocational
education is being done with the help
of these constituents.
Computers in Schools
Developing literacy
By the end of the 1986-87 school year,
the number of microcomputers in the
North Carolina schools is projected to
be over 4 1 ,500 for an approximate
ratio of one computer for every 26
students.
This figure surpasses a goal, set
several years ago, of establishing a
ratio ofone computer for every 50
students to allow 30 minutes per week
of computer access time for each
student.
This goal was set by a committee
created by the 1 983 General Assembly
to study computer literacy in North
Carolina public schools. The study
commission's report, submitted to the
1984 session of the General Assembly,
endorsed the "State Plan for
Computer Utilization in the North
Carolina Public Schools" and
recommended that "the State Board of
Education should review each school
system's local plan to assure that... its
students are receiving basic computer
awareness instruction prior to
graduation."
School systems were asked to develop
computer education programs which
included computer awareness skills
for students and educators. Skills for
students were based on the goal ofeach
student being able to demonstrate an
understanding of computers, their
operation and their possible
application to solving relevant
problems.
Skills for educators focused on the
ability to use the computer and
appropriate software as a tool in the
ongoing instructional program.
During the first year of the two-year
training period, 40,3 15 certified
personnel were involved in the
training.
The General Assembly appropriated
$28.4 million to provide funding of
the committee's proposals for
computer hardware, computer
literacy software, maintenance and
staffdevelopment.
Number of Microcomputers Reported
Funds were allocated to local school
systems by grade levels over a three-year
period, starting with grades 7-12
in 1984-85.
By the completion of the funding, the
General Assembly will have appro-priated
$2 million for computer train-ing
of certified personnel and $26.4
million for computer hardware, soft-ware,
supplies, repairs and main-tenance.
The placement and use of these com-puters
varies across the state. For
example, computers in place at the end
of the 1985-86 school year were used
primarily for computer literacy and
computer-assisted instruction and
were located mostly in classrooms or
computer labs.
Location of
Computers
Computer Awareness Expenditures
Hardware 95.6%
are, Supplies
Maintenance
epairs, Maintenance
12|%
Software, Supplies
7.4%
Staff Development
1985-86
$13.5 million
Hardwan
/vare, Supplies
10.7%
:% Staff Development
Repairs, maintenance
1986-87
$9.6 million
The conclusion of the funding for
computer literacy will mark the succ-essful
establishment ofan initial
statewide level of computer oppor-tunities
for students and teachers.
Computer awareness related needs
still to be addressed include staffing,
software and supplies, alternative
delivery systems, teacher support,
specialized peripherals, facility
needs, demonstration sites and
specialized training.
Uses of Microcomputers
June 1986
140LEAs Reporting
Instructing by satellite
Added course requirements brought
about by the Basic Education
Program and the push to provide this
basic education for all North
Carolina school children have
brought about the need for non-traditional
instructional methods.
Several other states have used
distance learning by satellite
programs to address problems of
reaching remote areas and providing
certain courses to students in small
schools.
Distance learning by satellite is
necessary in North Carolina to
address the pupil and teacher
shortages in rural and small schools.
These schools cannot afford teachers
for low enrollment classes. Teacher
shortages in math, science and
foreign languages also make it
difficult for schools to offer these
Equity in education is another
reason for the alternate delivery
system. Requirements that all
school-age children have the
opportunity for an education,
regardless ofwhether they can be
physically present in a classroom, and
higher standards for high school
graduation mean other ways have to be
found to provide instruction.
The use of satellite technology is a new
and innovative method of delivering
information from one location to
another. It provides public education a
method of teaching highly specialized
courses using a finite amount of
resources in a very cost-effecitve
manner since teachers can reach very
large audiences even though the
number at any one site may be
relatively small.
Schools can also better meet the needs
of all their students through a wider
range ofcourse offerings without the
need for additionally certified staff.
Under the state education department's
plan, satellite instruction would be
used to deliver instruction to
supplement classroom teachers. (For
more information on Satellite
learning, see the Services to Personnel
section.)
Exceptional Children
Serving special needs
North Carolina began funding for
exceptional children during the 1949-
50 school year. A total of 2, 1 75
children with special needs were
served by 55 teachers.
Since that time, programs and
services for exceptional children
have expanded, and during the 1985-
86 school year, a total of 1 74, 1 1
3
children with special needs were
provided educational and related
services in the public schools by
6, 557 teachers.
Ofthe total number of children served,
111 ,275 of the students were classified
as handicapped, representing 10.25
percent of the total school age
population. The remaining 62,838
exceptional children were classified as
academically gifted, representing 5. 79
percent of the total school age
population.
State funding for exceptional children
during the 1985-86 school year totaled
$ 1 54,500,40 1 . The federal government
added $3 1 ,564,000 to the total funding
for exceptional children in that school
year.
Number of Children Served
1985-86 School Year
Academically Gifted 62,838
Autistic 435
Deaf- Blind 7
Behaviorally/Emotionally Handicapped 6,804
Educable Mentally Handicapped 18,849
Hearing Impaired 1 ,39
1
Specific Learning Disabled 47,758
Multihandicapped 1,082
Other Health Impaired 1 ,047
Pregnant 397
Physically/Orthopedically Handicapped 1 ,054
Speech-Language Impaired 27, 1 43
Severely/Profoundly Mentally Handicapped 910
Trainable Mentally Handicapped 3,855
Visually Impaired 543
TOTAL 174,113
Number of Children by Type of Class Setting
Handicapped and Academically Gifted
Number of
Children
Percent of
EC Population
Regular Class - the majority
of educational services are provided
in the regular classroom; however, up
to 2 1% of the school day may be spent
outside the regular classroom
Resource - special educational
services are provided outside
the regular classroom for 2
1
through 60% of the school day
Self-Contained - special educational
services are provided in a special
class of school for more than 60%
of the school day
Public School Facility - special educational
services are provided in a separate public
school facility for more than 50% of the school
day
Private School Facility - special educational
services are provided in a separate private
school facility for more than 50% of the school
day
Public /Private Residential Facility - special
educational services are provided in a residential
facility for more than 50% of the school day
Homebound/Hospital - special educational
services are provided in a home or hospital
setting
Exceptional Children
Growth in Programs
Five and Ten Years
Child Nutrition
Adding food...for thought
Child nutrition programs are an
integral part of public education.
These programs contribute to the
nutrition education and well-being of
children as well as the overall
curriculum. Nutrition education
supplemental test information is
provided as a complement to the
healthful living curricular.
All public schools, with the exception
of Ocracoke School, participate in
the National School Lunch Program
with 136 LEAs and 1637 schools
participating in the School Breakfast
Program.
As a daily average, 738, 128 children
receive the benefits of lunch while
1 62 , 5 1 4 begin their day with school
breakfast. Participation increased by
132 meals during school year 1986
while membership decreased 3 168.
LEAs receive $ 1 1 7,279,73 1 in federal
funds and $9,594,779 in state matching
money designated for child nutrition
supervision. Local appropriations and
children's payments of$138,536,224
completed the total $265,8 10,734 spent
for child nutrition.
Transportation
Getting there
Each day, more than 705,254
students are transported by 13,002
school buses in North Carolina.
Annual cost per student for school
bus transportation is $ 1 1 3.26. North
Carolina's school buses travel over
115 million miles each year.
School bus drivers in this state have
been recognized as having one of the
best school bus safety records in the
country.
Despite this record, the National
Transportation Safety Board has
recommended that drivers aged 16-
17, who make up one third of the
total number ofbus drivers in North
Carolina, no longer be allowed to
drive school buses.
Making such a change would require
funds totaling $28 million and a
recruitment effort, particularly in
rural areas where more student bus
drivers are used.
The management of the school bus
transportation system in local school
systems is being updated through the
use of computers.
TIMS, the Transportation Information
Management System, is a computer-assisted
school bus routing and
scheduling system that is being piloted
in Durham County and Cumberland
County.
TIMS is a cost-effective and practical
computerized system for assisting local
school units in digitizing street
networks; maintaining current,
accurate road maps; and generating
efficient, cost-saving bus routes and
schedules.
Another system underway in about
half the county school bus systems is
the State Vehicle Fleet Maintenance
System. This parts inventory and
preventive maintenance computer
system is expected to be in use in all
school bus garages by June and will
make for a more effective means of
scheduling buses for maintenance.
Textbooks
Adopting Selections
North Carolina, one of 22 states with
a central system for adopting
textbooks, spends over $20 million
each year ($20 per student) for
textbooks for required classes at the
elementary and secondary levels and
for some elective high school courses.
The 14 member Textbook Commis-sion,
with the assistance ofhundreds
of teachers, reviews books submitted
by publishers and evaluates them for
quality of content and the degree to
which they include instructional
materials that support the objectives
of the North Carolina Standard
Course of Study.
The recommendations of the
Textbook Commission, along with
bids submitted by the publishers, are
considered by the State Board of
Education. The Board then adopts
those books they believe are the most
appropriate for the North Carolina
curriculum.
The textbook adoption process, which
is coordinated by the Instructional
Services Area of the Department of
Public Instruction, is a continuous
process with an approximate five-year
adoption cycle for most books.
Instructional Services determines
criteria for textbooks to support the
curriculum, coordinates meetings of
the Textbook Commission, holds
regional meetings for local school
system personnel to hear presentations
by the publishers, and disseminates
current lists of adopted textbooks and
other information pertinent to the
process.
Textbooks are purchased from
publishers and distributed to local
school systems through the State
Textbook Warehouse in Raleigh. The
problem of insuring the prompt
delivery of textbooks was recently
addressed by members of the State
Board of Education.
The Board determined the need to add
clauses to contracts with textbook
publishers to insure timely delivery.
The clauses state the sellers must
furnish books within 45 calendar
days of the order date or pay $ 100 for
each day's delay. Sellers may request
a delay in writing that may or may
not be approved by the Board.
Also, sellers must agree to provide
delayed net billing privileges to the
Board during years two through five
of the contracts as well as any terms
of renewal. Delayed net billing
allows the Board to order any
quantity of textbooks in the
contracts from March through May,
and to return any unopened cartons
ofthese books to sellers during
September and October. The Board
will pay at the end of October for all
books ordered in the spring less
books returned unopened during
September and October.
Student Services
Counseling
Student Services programs include
school counseling, psychological,
social work and health services
(nursing] for all students. They
insure that students have skills and
experiences that enable them to
benefit from instruction by
providing leadership and direction
in programs and services that
contribute to the cognitive, physical,
emotional and social development of
students.
These programs focus on the
academic and personal well-being of
students and on helping to prevent or
correct conditions which might
interfere with learning or
development.
Currently, 1814 school counselors
are employed in 140 school districts
across the state. This represents a
ratio ofone counselor (primarily
high school level) for every 596
students in Average Daily
Membership.
Fifty-four school districts employ 85
nurses, which on a state level would
represent a ratio of only one school
nurse for every 7,876 students in
average daily membership.
Forty- eight school districts employ
350 school psychologists (four school
psychologists serve as local program
administrators for Exceptional
Children) for a ratio of one school
psychologist for every 3,088 students in
Average Daily Membership.
Nine school districts employ 256
school social workers for a ratio of one
social worker for every 4,2 16 students
in average daily membership.
Ratio of Student Services Personnel
In Local School Districts
8000
7000
6000
5000
1000
500
In
Bar represents one LEA Student Services Staff person
for every 1 ,079,284 students in Average Daily Membership i Current Ratios II Basic Education
Program Ratios
Academic Achievement
Statewide Testing
"...the State Board of
Education shall imple-ment
an annual statewide
testing program in basic
subjects..." (115C-174.il)
Measuring progress
Progress in school achievement is
measured in North Carolina through
achievement tests administered in
grades 1,2,3,6 and 8 and through
testing in high school for minimum
competencies or for specific
achievement in various courses.
Although numerous tests are
administered each year, the
maximum cost of testing is about
$4.50 per student or less than one
tenth of a percent of the per pupil
expenditures for education. For this
investment in testing, parents and
teachers have adequate indicators of
a student's progress across various
grades, and administrators have
information which can be used to
guide curriculum and instruction as
well as school accountability.
ANNUALTESTING -The Statewide
Testing Program began in 1978 by
establishing statewide achievement
benchmarks. In 1986, the overall
achievement in basic skills was
measured against new national
standards set in 1985. When
measured against these standards,
North Carolina students scored
above the national average at all
grades tested; whereas, they had
scored below national norms in
1978. Moving upward in relation to
national standards demonstrates
that achievement has improved more
in North Carolina than in the nation
in the past nine years.
ANNUAL TESTING PROGRAM
STATEWIDE TEST SCORES ON
S CALIFORNIA ACHIEVEMENT TESTS
(Total Battery Percentiles)
OiWM ? f *
r r
Third:_1978 (43rd)
taOl J985 (66th)
s
:
:*•--*• ?'»"1
JIU 1985 (64th)
1
1 1985 (62nd)
WRITING TEST-Writing skills of
students in the middle grades in North
Carolina are assessed through a
writing test which is scored by
qualified readers. The latest writing
assessments show marked
improvement in reducing the
proportion of students who scored at
the lowest level. Some improvement
was also shown at the higher levels of
writing skills.
SCHOLASTIC APTITUDE TEST (SAT)-
Verbal scores on the SAT for North
Carolina high school students have
risen by eight points since 1977-78 and
SAT mathematics scores are up by 1
1
points. During the past eight years,
gains were recorded in math during five
of the years and verbal scores rose in
four of these years. North Carolina
students typically score lower than
students nationally on this test because
ofbackground differences.
NORTH CAROLINA SAT SCORES
COMPETENCY TEST--North
Carolina's Competency Test,
administered to eleventh graders
since its inception in 1978, has been
moved to the tenth grade. Students
will take this basic skills test for the
first time in the tenth grade, with
chances to retake the test and pass in
the eleventh and twelth grades. A
minimum competency test was
established to insure that high
school graduates had basic skills for
surviving independently in society.
During the years from 1978 to 1985,
the percentages passing the
Competency Test rose by about five
percentage points. Currently, only
about eight to 10 percent of the
students taking the test for the first
time fail to meet the standards. Most
ofthese students ultimately pass the
test after remediation.
NEWTESTS-New testing programs
assist teachers and principals in
identifying students at grades 3, 6
and 8 who should not be promoted
without being remediated
successfully in summer school. Tests
at these grades also provide
information to teachers so student
weaknesses can be addressed.
Testing in high schools is also
beginning in certain courses that are
required for college preparation.
Results from these end-of-course
tests can be used to review
achievement by courses for the state,
region and local school system.
NORTH CAROLINA COMPETENCY TESTS
PERCENTAGE OF JUNIORS PASSING THE TESlI
PERCENTAGE PASSING
GROUP O 60 65 70
STATEWIDE
Reading:
90 95 100
1978 (90.0%)
1 1985 (94.4%)l
1978 (85.0%)
~| 1985 (91.5%)
>
Teachers and principals may also elect
to use the information for
administrative and grading decisions.
In reflecting on the statewide testing
programs, important points to
remember are: (1) that curriculum and
instruction can be improved through
the use of testing information; (2) that
schools can improve school/parent
relationships by positively sharing
information; and (3) that test scores,
even though they may be only partially
indicative of the total effort of the
schools, can be a strong indicator of
educational accountability.
Graduation Requirements
Increasing demands
The ever increasing demands for
successful participation in American
society and the explosion in the
knowledge and skills necessary for
achieving success in the work place
have increased expectations and
standards for students in high
schools throughout America.
These increased demands have
resulted in a more comprehensive
high school curriculum designed to
provide for a wide range of student
interest and abilities as well as better
preparation for the demands of the
changing society.
In recognition of the increased
demands of the work place and higher
education, the State Board of Education
has increased the minimum
graduation requirements significantly
since 1979. Changes in the minimum
number ofcourse credits and in the
North Carolina Competency Test have
been adopted by the State Board.
i—
•
Graduation Requirements
Subject(s)
English
Mathematics
Science
Social Studies
Health/Physical Ed.
Electives as determined
by local board
Class of Class of Class of
1981-82 1982-83 1986-87
4 4 4
1 2
2 1 2
2 2 2
1 1 1
6 7 9
16 IK 20
Advanced Placement
Expecting more
The Advanced Placement Program is
a cooperative educational endeavor
sponsored by the College Board.
Based on the fact that many young
people can complete college-level
studies in their secondary schools,
the AP program represents a desire of
schools and colleges to foster such
experience.
Advanced Placement consists of
curricular and instructional guides
and examination in the subject areas
of art, biology, chemistry, computer
science, English, French, German,
government and politics, history,
Latin, mathematics, music, physics
and Spanish.
Students receive high school course
credit upon successful completion of
the course(s) as well as college credit
for courses in which the student
makes the designated score on the
examination in a given course.
School and student interest in
Advanced Placement has increased
significantly during the last 10 years.
Advanced Placement Program
1976 1983 1984 1985 1986
No. High Schools Providing AP Courses
No. Students Taking Examinations
Total No. ofAP Examinations
(includes all subject exams)
78 197 198 214 221
1157 3530 3985 4603 5032
1410 4500 5091 5954 6625
Scholars Program
Recognizing achievement
The North Carolina State Board of
Education approved the North
Carolina Scholars Program in
March 1983.
The program is designed to recognize
high school students who complete a
rigorous, well-balanced curriculum
and maintain, as a minimum, an
overall grade average of "B" or its
equivalent as determined by the local
board of education.
Students qualifying for the North
Carolina Scholars Program are
recognized by the North Carolina
State Board of Education. A seal is
provided which is affixed to the
student's diploma.
The Scholars Program requires the
student to complete 22 course units in
grades 9- 12. Two programs of study are
included in an effort to provide
students as much flexibility in course
selection as possible.
Plan A is a broad, well-balanced
program of studies that emphasizes
advanced study in all curricular areas.
Plan B includes most of the advanced
courses contained in Plan Abut does
allow the student to concentrate in a
curricular area of her/his choice.
The program has been well received by
students, teachers, and administrators.
Participation has increased
significantly during the three years the
program has been in effect.
Participation Summary
Students Qualifying
Schools Participating
Percent of Seniors
Qualifying
3911
286
4028
315
5232
316
Personnel Services
Career Development Pilot
"...shall be based on
continuous evaluation of
teacher performance...on
experience derived from
pilot units...shall be
designed to give an
employee increasing
responsibility,
recognition and pay
as the employee gains
experience and
professional ability...clear
opportunities for
advancement, recognition
and increased pay." (GS
115C-363.2)
Rewarding effectiveness
Sixteen school units are imple-menting
the Career Development
Pilot Program as established by the
General Assembly. The goals of the
program are to attract and retain
good teachers by rewarding effec-tive
teaching and differentiating
responsibilities. Following the plan,
employees advance from initial, to
provisional, to Career I and Career II
status.
Teachers new to the profession or
new to North Carolina are provided
professional support by mentors or
support teams during the initial certi-fication
period of one or two years.
The mentors and support team mem-bers
work with the recently certified
employee to insure the development
of specified skills.
Upon successful completion of this
initial period, principals and obser-vers/
evaluators may recommend
that employees advance to Career
Status I. Three years later, at the end
of Career Status I, employees may
advance to Career Status II if they
have met the performance criterion.
Employees are awarded additional
salary at each career step.
In 1985-86, the 16 pilot units pre-pared
to implement the Career
Development Program.
• Employees in the pilot units
received training in effective teach-ing
practices. More than 900 edu-cators
also received training in the
observation and evaluation of
teaching performance.
• Pilot units established local steer-ing
committees of teachers, princi-pals
and central office staff to insure
communication and to assist with
decision-making.
• A state steering committee of48
members worked with the State
Department of Public Instruction to
develop policies and procedures for
implementing the career pilot
program.
Observers/evaluators are an important
part of the pilot program. Using a
prescribed method of observation and
data collection, observers and
principals provide direct feedback to
teachers and suggest ideas to improve
or expand teaching skills.
Observers/evaluators also assist
principals in teacher evaluation for
career status recommendations.
During the first years of the program,
approximately 97% of educators in the
pilot units agreed to participate in the
program. At the end of the first year,
about 75% of those employees were
awarded Career Status I; 12%,
provisional status; and 1 1%, initial
certification status. During the second
year of the program, about 76% of
eligible employees requested to be
In the spring of 1 986, employees were
surveyed about their impressions to
date of the Career Development
Program.
• 82% felt that observers/evaluators
provide fair and objective feedback on
performance.
• Most participants also felt the
training they received enables them to
improve their teaching skills.
• A total of57% agreed they perform
their role more effectively as a result of
participating in the program.
During 1986-87 the State Steering
Committee is defining criteria for
advancement to Career Status III,
specifying the additional professional
responsibilities for Career Status II
and III employees, and improving the
observation and evaluation skills of
principals and observers/evaluators.
After one and a halfyears of
implementation, the Career
Development Pilot Program has
already improved education in North
Carolina. The next two and a half
years are expected to further this
growth.
Total Number of Unit Employees and
Number (and Percentage) Awarded Career Status I 1985-86
Unit Total Career Status 1
Teacher Principal Other Teacher Principal Other
Alexander 263 16 12 171 (65%) 15 (94%) 9 (75%!
Burke 711 39 2 588 (79%) 36 (95%) 20 (100%)
Burlington 352 10 58 256 (73%) 9 (90%) 44 (88%)
Buncombe 1167 59 :',.
r
) 854 (73%) 45 (68%) 31 (89%)
Chowan 140 9 8 113 (81%) 9 (100%) 6 (75%)
Tarboro 1 82 6 13 1 L8 (65%) 3 (50%) 8 (62%)
Greene 168 9 13 145 (86%) 8 (89%) 12 (92%)
Roanoke Rapids 1 64 9 6 1 l.s (72%) 7 (78%) 4 (67%)
Harnett 633 20 33 491 (7»'"| 20(100%) 29 (88%)
Haywood 466 2.
r
> 20 365 (78%) 25 (100%) 18 (90%)
Montgomery 238 13 10 182 (76%) 1 1 (85%) 9 (90%)
New Hanover 1057 30 1 17 807 (76%) 23 (78%) 80 (68%)
Orange 32s 18 16 221 (68%) 17 (94%) 11 (69%)
Perquimans 99 6 6 80 (81%) 5 (83%) 5 (83%)
Salisbury L58 7 8 1 19 (75%) 7 (100%) 7 (88%)
TOTAL 6156 277 375 4631 (75%) 240 (87%) 293 (78%)
Effective Teaching Training
Improving performance
More than 43,000 employees in North
Carolina have participated in train-ing
designed to provide them with the
knowledge and skills necessary to be
effective educators.
The Effective Teaching Training
Program captures "the major com-ponents
of those teaching acts identi-fied
by research as associated with
effectiveness in the classroom." Effec-tive
Teaching Training is designed to
familiarize teachers with the new
performance appraisal instrument
scheduled for use throughout the
State by July 1987 to evaluate all
teachers.
The training program is composed of
10 three-hour sessions:
• Social Interaction
• Instructional Feedback
• Work-Related Activities
• Instructional Presentation
• Learning Evaluation
Other sessions in the program involve
planning and analyzing lessons, hold-ing
effective conferences with students
and parents, discussing discipline
problems and monitoring student
performance.
A participant-centered approach is
used in Effective Teaching Training.
Teachers use their own experiences in
discussions, role plays, case studies
and mini-lectures. Trainers model
desirable teaching skills throughout
the 30-hour program. Local school
employees were trained to lead the
sessions in their local units.
Some 1 3,500 teachers completing the
training received $250 stipends funded
by the General Assembly. (Career
Development Pilot Program teachers
received $500 stipends.) For 1987, the
State Board of Education has requested
additional funds from the General
Assembly for stipends for more than
22,000 teachers who completed the
training but have not yet received the
stipend.
In a survey administered to staffmem-bers
of the 16 Career Development
Pilot Programs, 75% stated positively
that Effective Teaching Training has
helped them analyze their own
professional skills and practices.
"...a one-time stipend of
$250 per person to
teachers in LEAs outside
the 16 Career Ladder
Pilots who were required to
complete 30 hours of
Teacher Effectiveness
Training prior to June 30,
1987." (GS 115C-363.7)
» Learning Expectations
» Instructional Monitoring
Time Management
• Student Interaction
Instructional Preparation
Teacher Recruitment Office
"...to coordinate and
administer a
comprehensive
teacher recruitment
effort. ..to encourage
members of minority
groups and individuals
who may not otherwise
consider undertaking or
continuing a career in
teaching to go into
and remain in the
teaching profession..."
(GS 11 5C- 363.15)
Attracting the best
The 1986 General Assembly
established the Teacher Recruitment
Office as part of the Teacher Enhance-ment
Program. One goal of the Office
is to identify subject and geographic
areas of need and recruit quality
teachers for those areas. The Office
will focus on recruiting minority
groups and on retaining quality
teachers who may otherwise consider
leaving the field within the first five
years of teaching.
Another goal of the Teacher Recruit-ment
Office is to offer incentives to
attract quality teachers and to dev-elop
a marketing plan to improve the
image of the teaching profession.
To assist the Office with its task, the
General Assembly mandated that 34
outstanding teachers, one from each
high school in the state, be appointed
to serve as teacher recruiters for their
schools. Each of the 341 teacher
recruiters will receive a $300 stipend
for the extra duties. To increase the
efficiency of this plan, the State
Board of Education approved the re-lease
of the eight regional winners in
the state Teacher of the Year
competition.
The regional winners are released from
their classrooms for a full year to work
directly with the Teacher Recruitment
Office. Their duties include assisting
the high school recruiters in their
regions, identifying quality candidates
for a eareer in teaching, disseminating
information on scholarship loans,
visiting schools to encourage members
of minority groups to begin
preparation for a teaching career,
coordinating efforts to involve
business and civic groups in helping
make teaching more rewarding, and
cooperating with colleges and
universities to increase teacher
enrollment.
Adding incentives
Four scholarship /incentive grant
loans will be administered by the
Teacher Recruitment Office:
• 200 scholarships at $2,000 a year for
four years for prospective teachers
entering college
• 150 scholarships not to exceed $1 ,000
for college tuition for college graduates
or certified teachers wishing to be
certified or recertified in areas of need
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• 1 50 scholarships not to exceed
$ 1 ,000 for tuition plus the minimum
salary for teacher aides for one year
for college graduates who serve as
substitutes or aides in local school
units and who agree to return to
college full- time to become certified
in an area of need.
• 1 50 incentives of $3,000 awarded one
time only to career teachers who have
been out of the classroom over three
years and who agree to teach in a
subject area or a geographic area of
need.
The Teacher Recruitment Office and its
network ofteacher recruiters will
continue to work for increased teacher
salaries, improved working conditions
for teachers, and a positive image of
the teaching profession in North
Carolina.
Quality Assurance
Raising standards
"...to implement on-the-job
training components
of the Quality Assurance
Program...for staff
development and training,
travel, training materials,
consultant services, and
staff coordination."
(SB 745- 1986 GA)
The State Board of Education and the
University Board of Governors
launched the North Carolina Quality
Assurance Program in 1978. During
the next three years, hundreds of
educators developed a systematic,
continuous and extended approach to
achieving "quality assurance" in
techer education and certification in
North Carolina. The work
culminated in 198 1 with a landmark
report for consideration and action
by the State Board of Education, the
University Board of Governors and
the General Assembly.
In response to the report the State
Board of Education adopted new
standards for the approval of teacher
education programs in colleges and
universities in 1 98 1 to. .
.
• establish teacher education as a six-year
developmental process with four
years offormal study at the college or
university level and two years ofcon-tinued
professional development and
supervision during initial certifi-cation
and employment;
• broaden responsibility for teacher
education to include colleges, univer-sities
and local school systems;
• establish a broad competency
assessment system beginning with
entry into a program of study and
continuing through initial
certification...with the basis for
continuing certification the demon-stration
of successful teaching perfor-mance;
• require qualified and competent fac-ulty,
improved counseling services,
strengthened admission and exit pol-icies
and extended field experience in
local school systems;
• state that students must achieve
minimum scores on the National
Teacher Examination prior to formal
admission to an approved teacher
education program;
• include core competencies required
for all teachers as well as competencies
and guidelines for 30 teacher education
programs; and
• strengthen the supervision of early
field experiences and student teaching
through close coordination ofcampus
and field-based activities.
The State Board of Education adopted
the Initial Certification Program in
1985.
The State has designed and the local
school systems are using an evaluation
and support system to assess the per-formance
of initially certified
personnel.
StaffDevelopment
Learning continues
The 1 986 General Assembly appro-priated
$4.4 million for local public
school units to train and develop
personnel in high priority areas of
need. This represents approximately
$40 for each of the approximately
108,000 public school personnel.
Training occurs most frequently in
the following areas:
• reading
• vocational education
• writing
• computer science
• mathematics
• teacher effectiveness
• science
• performance appraisal
• exceptional children
• mentor teacher training
Strategies used in training and
development vary from the traditional
methods of college courses, travel and
local workshops to telecommuni-cations
and independent study or
research.
Leadership Institute
The North Carolina Leadership
Institute for Administrators was
originally conceived and funded by
the 1979 General Assembly. The
purpose of the Institute is to provide
principals, assistant principals and
central office personnel with state,
regional and local level services to
assist with the implementation of
duties and responsibilities associated
with leadership at those levels.
Services provided by the Institute
include:
• Executive Assistants Program
• Short-Term Internships
• Business-Industry Liaison Program
• Technical Assistance
• Television Programs
• Training Programs
By the end of the 1986-87 school year,
the Institute will have provided over
70 training activities involving over
2000 public school administrators
with an annual appropriation of
$ 1 75,499 for training.
Assessment Center
Realizing the crucial role of the school
principal, the 1985 General Assembly
funded the North Carolina Assessment
Center for principals. The Center's
program is validated by the National
Association of Secondary School
Principals.
Under the program, trained assessors
evaluate the management potential of
candidates and prepare a report of
participants' strengths and areas
needing improvement.
The Center will be expanded in 1987 to
include the Springfield Project,
development opportunities in 12 skill
areas for prospective principals with
high potential.
Distance learning
The use of satellite technology is a
new and innovative method of
delivering information from one
location to another. Innovations and
improvements in technology make it
possible to provide instruction over
long distances. Once only available
to large corporations, these
technologies are becoming more
affordable and more flexible for use
in education.
Portions ofa federal grant were used
to test distance learning during 1985-
86 in three North Carolina school
systems--Graham County, Currituck
County and Roanoke Rapids City.
Currituck and Graham schools were
selected for their remoteness and
Roanoke Rapids, for the interest
shown by the administrators in using
technology to deliver instruction.
Instructing teaching staffs in the best
use of distance learning was the focus
of the project. By using the satellite
uplink at Appalachian State
University, five hours of training
were held. A telephone system set up
between ASU and the three high
schools involved in the project was
considered the essential element in
the two -way communication link.
Teachers at Currituck High, Stecoah
High and Roanoke Rapids High gave
the project a positive review. Totals
of94%, 100% and 83% ofthe teachers
in Currituck, Stecoah and Roanoke
Rapids respectively, were convinced
of the success of this project as an
effective delivery system. Also, 94%,
90% and 83% of the teachers in
Currituck, Stecoah and Roanoke mmj
m
Rapids were satisfied that satellite
broadcasts were effective methods of
implementing the more difficult to
achieve components of the Basic
Education Program.
Evaluation by participants indicated
they felt such a course to be most
applicable to schools trying to teach
courses in foreign languages, higher
mathematics and science and the
cultural arts. One superintendent
commented that this telecourse was
not as good as a full-time teacher, but
was better than not being able to offer
courses to students who needed them.
Adequate funding for implementing
instructional delivery by satellite is
necessary to deliver (by satellite)
instruction to teachers who lack skills
in new areas mandated by the Basic
Education Program. These areas
include foreign language and physical
education in elementary schools,
higher level mathematics and science
courses and cultural arts.
Teachers also need to be trained in this
new delivery method to help them use
it to teach students.
Meeting the BEP will require the
Department of Public Instruction to
place a satellite receive dish antenna
(TVRO) on 56 high school campuses
that have anticipated enrollments of
under 450 students each (estimated cost
$4500 each). These campuses will
receive supplementary instruction
through this medium.
Also, since there is limited program-ming
available for satellite broadcast
network, interactive programming
must be produced that allows teachers
and students to interact via long
distance telephone.
Larger schools will also need a TVRO
antenna to receive signals to
supplement and enhance their
instructional and staff development
programs. Eunds are included in the
expansion budget request to place at
least one antenna in every school
district. Also included in the cost of all
programming is the cost of production
and transmission of the courses.
Supply and Demand
Analyzing the market
The need for new teachers depends on
turnover rates, implementation of
the Basic Education Program, student
enrollment and the funding support
provided by federal, state and local
governments.
The two primary sources of
information concerning the supply of
potential teachers is the certification
file and the number of students
enrolled in teacher education
programs in colleges and
universities. Supplementing this
information is historical data on the
number of initial certifications
issued yearly.
Information from the teacher supply
and demand study will be used to:
• identify current and future areas of
potential teacher shortages,
• determine the allocation ofteacher
scholarships and loans,
• determine which curricular areas
in teacher education should be
expanded or reduced, and
• counsel teacher education students
concerning future employment
opportunities.
Matching supply to demand
The Applicant/Vacancy Clearinghouse
was added to help systems locate
qualified employees. This
computerized system matches
appropriately certified personnel
seeking public school employment in a
particular area of the state withjob
openings in that locale.
Certified educators applying to the
Clearinghouse indicate the geographic
area of the state where they would like
to work. Local school systems request
the names ofeducators with specific
certification requirements. The Clear-inghouse
matches thejob openings
with properly certified personnel and
notifies the local systems of the
applicant pool. Local school systems
then contact and interview prospective
employees.
Currently under development is a
process which would allow local school
systems to conduct their own remote
computerized searches from a bank of
certified educators seeking
employment.
Statewide estimates ofnew teachers needed through 1990-91 are:
1986-87 1987-88 1988-89 1989-90 1990-91
5,162 6,928 7,387 8.055 8,048
Initial Certification Program
Supportfor new personnel
The Initial Certification Program
began in 1985. Under the plan, local
school systems provide special
support to each individual's profes-sional
growth during the first two
years ofemployment in education.
Currently, 3790 initially certified
persons are in their first or second
year of the program.
New professionals receive support
from a mentor or support team. The
support team counsels new educators
and periodically assesses them to
insure satisfactory professional
growth. The assessments consist of
three observations using the Teacher
Performance Appraisal System/
Initial Certification or the instru-ment
currently in use for other profes-sional
groups. Professional develop-ment
plans are developed for the new
educators and revised as necessary.
At the end of two cycles of professional
enrichment and support, new
educators are eligible to receive Con-tinuing
Certification.
To enhance this program, the State
Agency developed a 24-hour Mentor/
Support Team Training Program. The
training program, modeled after the
highly successful Effective Teaching
Training Program, covers those skills
necessary to support mentors.
Currently under study is certification
endorsement for Supervisors of
Initially Certified Personnel/Student
Teachers.
Regional Education Centers
Delivering these services
Eight Regional Centers have been established in the eight education regions
of the state. Those Centers are:
1) Northeast Regional Education
Center, Williamston
5) North Central Regional Education
Center, Greensboro
2) Southeast Regional Education
Center, Jacksonville
6) Southwest Regional Education
Center, Charlotte
3) Central Regional Education
Center, Raleigh
4) South Central Regional Education
Center , Carthage
7) Northwest Regional Education
Center, North Wilkesboro
8) Western Regional Education
Center, Waynesville
The main goal of these Centers is to
provide comprehensive services to
the superintendents, central office
staff, administrators, and teachers of
the local public school systems in
their geographic areas of the state.
Those services include:
• serving as a broker for educational
services
coordinating the dissemination of
service, materials, and programs to
the local school systems in their
area
improving communications among
their various publics
providing consultant services to the
local school systems in their area
» serving as a liaison between the
general public, local education
agencies, and the State Education
agency
» interpreting educational policies to
their various publics
The eight Regional Education Centers
provide a vital link in improving and
maintaining effective education in our
state.
North Carolina Education Districts
Finance
Finance
Reporting system
The State Board's Uniform Reporting
System is rapidly moving toward full
implementation. The system consists
of five business management
projects: student accounting;
personnel accountability; fiscal
control; transportation management;
and local payroll and accounting
support.
STUDENTACCCOUNTING- The
Student Information Management
System (SIMS) provides the school
with an automated student accounting
system to keep track of student
attendance, scheduling and academic
progress. The system is able to
monitor, audit and forecast
information for timely and accurate
reporting. Some 420 schools, most of
them high schools, are currently
using SIMS.
PERSONNELACCOUNTABILITY-In
early 1987, a new professional
certification processing system will
begin reducing the certification
process backlog from three months to
less than two weeks. It will include
applicant status reporting and an
employment opportunities data bank.
An automated salary certification
and verification system, to be
completed in early 1988, will insure
timely and accurate salary payments
for teachers and administrators on a
monthly basis.
FISCAL CONTROL- The new
combined federal and state accounting
system, to begin in June, will better
control and streamline the processing
of monthly school system expenditure
reports. Access to current account
balances and transaction information
will assist local school systems in
their financial management.
TRANSPORTATION MANAGEMENT-Complete
installation of the State
Vehicle Fleet Management System in
all 100 school bus garages is scheduled
forJune of 1987. By fall, routing and
scheduling software will be available
for installation throughout the state.
LOCAL PAYROLLAND ACCOUNTING
SUPPORT- Through locally operated,
automated payroll and accounting sys-tems,
personnel and financial
information will be collected and
consolidated at the state level. The use
of local systems will provide accurate
and timely data uniformly and
achieve the fiscal accountability
required by state and federal laws and
regulations. By placing initial
priority on the non-automated units,
the legislative mandate to achieve
statewide financial reporting
objectives by the fall of 1987 can be
fulfilled.
Business Management Systems Development Projects
IMPLEMENTATION TIMETABLE
Management Area
Funding for
Local Support
Personnel
Accountability
Fiscal Control
Pupil Transportation
Transportation
Management (TIMS)
Fleet Management
Funding for
Local Support
Local Payroll &
Accounting & Data
Files Communications
Presently
Nonautomated
(38 units)
Presently
Automated
(102 units)
Funding for
Local Support
Legend: Design Project
Installation Project
State Funding
COMPARISON OF PER PUPIL EXPENDITURES
CURRENT EXPENSE EXPENDITURES ONLY
Year
Per Pupil Expenditiire, by Source Percent ofTotal
Stair Federal Local Total State Federal Local
1975 76 $692.06 $136.30 $206.92 $1,035.28 66.8 13.2 20.0
1976-77 747.18 149.12 230.22 1,126.52 66.4 13.2 20.4
1977-78 834.95 160.68 317.46 1,313.09 63.6 L2.2 24.2
1978-79 935.44 192.68 349.13 1,477.25 63.3 L3.I 23.6
1979-80 1.050.40 216.48 403.67 1.670.55 62.8 13.0 24.2
1980-81 1.243.36 248.08 452.87 1,944.31 63.9 12.8 23.3
1981-82 1,327.74 210.88 495.69 2,034.31 65.2 lot 24.4
1982-83* 1,344.98 220.06 523.54 2,088.58 64.4 10.5 25.1
1983-84 1.445.77 231.73 579.93 2,257.43 64.0 10.3 25.7
1984-85 1.687.55 238.37 648.93 2,574.85 65.5 9.3 25.2
Per pupil expenditures are calculated by using final average daily membership.
* 1 982-83 State figure does not include the bus replacement amounts for this year.
HISTORY OF CERTIFIED SALARY INCREASES
Legislative Increases Teacher with Bachelor's Degree
Across the Board Automatic Step Increase
5% 2.4%
7.5% 2.4%
2.4%
4% + $300 2.4%
6.5% 2.4%
6% 2.4%
5% + $200 2.4%
10% 2 .4% plus 6.3%
Annual Salary
$7,560-$10.710
$8.130-$1 1.510
$8,130-$11.510
$8.760 -$12,270
$9,330 -$13,070
$9,890 -$13,830
$10,380 $14,540
$12,390 $16,230
$13,010-$18.740
$13,010-$18,740
$13,660 $19,680
$15,680 -$22,590
$15.680 -$23,660
$16.700 -$25,200
Comments
One time bonus of$200
Salary schedule changed to
grade and step. Procedures
assured no one took a cut
in converting 13 pay levels
into 6 steps. All teachers
received 2.4% increase. In
addition, in conversion
process, they received to 6.3%
Across the board increase
effective Jan. 1, 1982 for
second half of 1981-82
school year. Total salary
steps allowable in range
increased to 8.
Salary schedule reformated
from grade and step to pay
level. Change had no
effect on salaries.
Those working continuously
for one school term
received one pay level
(4.8%); those working contin-uously
for two or more years
received 2 pay levels (9.6%).
Legislation added one pay level
to the range for a total of 9.
Community Services
Joining hands to.
"...statewide responsibility
to address systematically
alcohol and drug problems
of school aged youth..."
(GS115C-79)
...Fight alcohol and
drug abuse
During the first year of operation,
1985-86. the Alcohol and Drug Defense
Program, established by the General
Assembly in the Department of Public
Instruction, provided prevention and
intervention services to over 1500
people and trained over 4000 more to
get involved in the fight against drugs.
A survey ofdrug education activities
in the state reflects that no school
system to date has implemented a
comprehensive elementary through
high school drug defense program.
Some schools have developed projects
at specific grade levels and many are
just beginning to attack the problem.
Funds provided by the General
Assembly, totaling $250,000, have
recently been granted to 35 school
systems to address a number of
approaches in both rural and urban
settings.
In July 1986, ADD conducted a pilot
project called "Student Athletes
Summer Institute." Thirty-two rising
high school seniors were trained to
return to their schools to implement
projects with local school-based ADD
contacts.
Other projects undertaken by the ADD
staffmembers included:
• compiling a resource directory of
alcohol and drug services for
adolescents;
• identifying existing projects that are
effectively delivering prevention and
intervention services;
• consulting with school systems on
drug policies; and
• training school personnel.
A survey of drug use by adolescents in
North Carolina will be conducted this
spring. This survey, to be
administered to students in grades 7-
12, will provide information to plan
as well as evaluate prevention
/intervention strategies. Survey
results will be released at a statewide
conference that will focus on drug use
among adolescents and programs
which have proven to be effective in
curtailing drug use.
Also planned are three Student
Athletes Summer Institutes for July,
1987. Holding three sessions will
allow greater participation and more
positive role models for students.
ADD officials are also considering
piloting DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance
Education) in each of the education
regions during the 1987-88 school
year. DARE is a prevention
curriculum for fifth and sixth graders
using trained law enforcement officers
and teachers.
The ADD Program, through the regional consultants, provides services to all 140 local
education agencies (LEAs). The ADD staffworks with central office and local school
personnel, community agencies, and parent groups and provides direct services to over
3000 students. The services for the first year are summarized below:
CONSULTATION
Prevention Program Services
School Personnel
Community Agencies
Community Task Forces, Civic Clubs,
Parent Groups, etc.
Sub-Total
INDIVIDUALS
SERVED
340
145
276
761
Intervention Program Services
School Personnel
Community Agencies
Community Task Forces, Civic
Clubs, Parent Groups, etc.
Sub-Total
409
144
199
752
TOTAL Consultation Services were
provided to
TRAINING
15 13 individuals
INDIVIDUALS HOURS
Prevention Workshops
School Personnel
Parent/Community Groups
Community Agencies
Students
628 for a total of 10 1 .5 hrs.
240 for a total of 20
157 for a total of 11
1613 for a total of 75.5
Sub-Total 2638 for a total of 208
Intervention Workshops
School Personnel
Parent/Community Groups
Community Agencies
Students
408 for a total of 108 hrs.
33 for a total of 4
162 for a total of 17
11 58 for a total of _9
Sub-Total 1761 for a total of 138
TOTALTraining Services 4399 for a total of 554 hours
"...the State Board of
Education develops
performance standards
including the correlates
of effective dropout
prevention programs and
establishes indicators for
measuring the
effectiveness of
programs..." (GS 115C-70)
.Reduce dropouts
As part of the North Carolina Basic
Education Program, Dropout
Prevention was organized in the
schools to develop partnerships of
concerned educators and community
people to work together to prevent
dropping out and to provide the
opportunity for all students to reach
their full potential. The following
principles guide the program:
•School is for everyone.
•Every student should have
opportunities for success in school.
•Keeping students in school requires
addressing the broad range of
problems facing young people.
•All educators-teachers,
administrators, student services
staff, and others- -as well as the
community must work cooperatively
to reach the goals of dropout
prevention.
•A planned, comprehensive approach
creates a successful dropout
prevention effort.
Each school administrative unit in
North Carolina has an allocation of
state dropout dollars based on total
membership figures. This allocation
may be used to hire personnel to
implement dropout prevention
programs, which vary from system to
system based on individual needs.
Dropout prevention funds may be used
for full- or part-time positions to meet
the needs of the individual school
administrative unit.
/. 75
High-Risk Counseling In-School Suspension
\
^6
2 /
Transition
Alternative
o School
Ext. School
\ \ Day
\ 18
24 Academic Remed.
Other*
300
200
100
ISS JPC Alt Ext HRC Rem Tran Oth*
I I Full-time Part-time
State dropout prevention funds are used for a variety of program types which
serve high-risk students in grades 4 through 12.
A number of programs in dropout prevention exist across the state with personnel
to operate them funded by allocated state dropout prevention dollars and other
resources amassed by the individual school systems. The chart below shows
the types of programs and amount of funding used for each based on the 1985-86
school year.
FUNDING FOR DROPOUT PREVENTION PROGRAMS, 1985-86
PROGRAM STATE DROPOUT
FUNDS
OTHER FUNDING
SOURCES
PROGRAM TOTAL
In-School Suspension $8,291,468 2,264,003 10,555,471
Job Placement Center 834,845 1,153,233 1,988,078
Alternative School 185,093 212,427 397,520
Extended School Day 163,468 1,307,454 1,470,922
High-Risk Counseling 3,849,182 1,012,969 4,862,151
Academic Remediation 436,320 731,572 1,167,892
Transition 10,798 38,562 49,360
Other* 977,784 379,382 1,357,166
TOTAL 14,748,958 7,099.602 21,848,560
*Other programs include alternative classrooms, assistance to pregnant students,
assistance to single parents, dropout prevention identification, parent involve-ment,
coordination and liaison, and visiting teacher.
Students Served in
Dropout Prevention
1985-86.%
2169
Job Placement
...Child abuse and neglect
prevention programs are
iefined to be those
programs and services
which impact on children
and families before any
substantiated incident of
child abuse or neglect has
Dccurred...' (GS 110-147)
..Prevent child abuse
Child abuse continues to be a problem
ofepidemic proportions in North
Carolina. The Division of Social
Services Central Registry has recorded
nearly 29,000 reports of suspected
child abuse and neglect in one year. In
a series of statewide hearings the
Governor's Commission on Child
Victimization determined that child
abuse, both physical and sexual, is the
leading concern of North Carolina
citizens. Frequently, victims come to
agency attention as a result of other
problems: juvenile delinquency,
adolescent pregnancy, substance
abuse, attempted suicide, school
dropout, or runaway. Investigation of
these situations often uncovers a
history of child maltreatment.
In 1983 the North Carolina General
Assembly addressed the need to
intervene in the cycle of child abuse in
a preventive way by establishing the
Children's Trust Fund to be administered
by the North Carolina State Board of
Education. It is operated in
conjunction with the Board's
previously established Child Abuse
Prevention Program. The Trust Fund
concept has two purposes: to provide
seed money to develop and implement
prevention programs at a community
level, and to demonstrate through
these programs that prevention is a
viable concept so that communities
will in time assume responsibility in
supporting prevention services.
During the first year of funding, the
Trust was used to establish four model
prevention programs, totaling
approximately $ 1 00,000. In fiscal
years 1985-86 and 1986-87, Senate Bill
489 Section 3 appropriated the sum of
$250,000 to fund additional child
abuse prevention projects. This
special appropriation along with
revenue collected, made it possible to
allocate $542,043 to projects and
grants through fiscal year 1985. In
fiscal year 1986, 16 projects have been
funded totaling $595,293.
A comprehensive plan for preventing
child abuse and neglect contains
different but related community
programs, targeted to different
populations and reflecting different
phases of the family life cycle.
Programs that show promise have
been identified by the National
Committee for the Prevention of
Child Abuse to include:
• prenatal
• perinatal bonding
• infant interaction
• parents of high-risk infants
• home visitors
• self-help and neighborhood support
• crisis care
• child care
• child screening and treatment
• abused children programs
• lifeskills training
• education for adulthood
Since its beginning in 1 983, the
Children's Trust Fund has supported
every type of community program
across the state, encouraging the
growth ofcommunity based programs
that involve a varity of agencies.
Education, the only institution that
has access to the entire child
population, plays a key role in focusing
the resources and expertise of other
disciplines on the prevention of child
abuse.
"...to encourage greater
community involvement in
the public schools and
greater community use of
public school facilities."
(GS 115C-204)
...Open school doors
The Community Schools Act was
approved by the General Assembly in
1977 to:
• provide for the maximum use of
school facilities
• encourage community involvement
in schools
• support the use ofvolunteers
• promote open communication.
All North Carolina public schools now
have a Community Schools program
which annually brings thousands of
citizens into school facilities across
the state.
Adult evening classes, little league
sports, adult athletics, concerts, after-school
care and senior citizen events
are only a few of the activities
sponsored through Community
Schools. Gyms, classrooms,
auditoriums, cafeterias and ballfields
are where these activities take place,
putting to extended use the tremendous
tax investment in public school
facilities.
By working with recreation
departments, community colleges and
other local agencies and organizations
to plan and provide programs that
address the unique needs in local
communities, Community Schools
has helped identify and eliminate the
duplication of most services.
Just as communities have benefited
from the Act, so have schools,
advisory councils, volunteer programs
and business partnerships have
brought citizens into the schools to
help make decisions and to lend their
support to the educational process.
In addition, planned communication
efforts which include newsletters,
speakers bureaus, annual reports and
good media relations, are keeping
parents and citizens informed about
schools. Improved communication
has resulted in a new level of public
awareness and a growing degree of
citizen interest, involvement and
support.
The General Assembly currently
awards a grant of $29,282 to each
participating LEA to implement a
Community Schools program. A local
match of25% is required.
FY 1985-86
USE OF SCHOOL FACILITIES
COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT IN
SCHOOLS
Adult Evening Classes
Number of people enrolled in adult
evening classes
205,140
Number of adult evening courses
offered
6722
Number of school buildings used
for evening classes
610
Volunteers
Number ofvolunteers serving North
Carolina schools
145,900
Number of hours contributed by
volunteers
2,064,551
School-Business Partnerships
Total number ofpartnerships
8.398
Recreation
Number of people participating
in recreational activities
in gyms and on school grounds
3.341,662
Number of school sites used for
after school recreation
1237
Summer-Programs
Number of students and adults
participating in summer day
camps, enrichment classes, organized
recreation, etc.
13,405
After-School-Care
Number of school systems that
provide after school care
for students ofworking parents
55
Number of students enrolled
20,275
Meeting Sites
Number of times school facilities
were used as meeting sites and for
community, civic group, family
and church related functions.
78,858
Number of Education Foundations
39
Total dollars contributed by
foundations in '85-86
$1,427,300
Senior Citizens
Number of school systems
sponsoring special programs
and services for senior citizens
59
Community Schools Advisory
Councils
Number serving on Community
Schools Advisory Councils
4377
Legislative Services
...for monitoring...
irograms and reporting on
hem to the General
Assembly and the Joint
.egislative Commission on
lovernmental
)perations..."
Legislative Services
Communicating
the challenge
The Legislative Services Area of the
Department of Public Instruction was
established in July 1986. The Area
has two main charges- -to act as a
liaison between the Department and
the North Carolina General Assembly
and to monitor selected legislatively
mandated educational programs.
The Legislative Liaison Office of the
Legislative Services Area provides
timely, accurate and complete
information to the legislative staff,
legislative committees and individual
legislators. The main duties of the
Office are:
• covering all interim commissions/
committees of interest of the
Department
• preparing reports of the actions of
all interim commissions/committees
• assisting with the drafting of
educational legislation
• responding to requests for
information from the General
Assembly
The Monitoring Office of the Area
oversees the implemention of specified
educationally mandated programs.
This oversight consists ofa review of
current information on the programs,
on-site visits to local education
agencies, written questionnaires,
telephone surveys, data collection and
personal interviews. The Office
periodically makes oral or written
reports to the Education
Subcommittee, and the Joint
Legislative Commission on
Governmental Operations.
A few of the programs currently under
consideration are:
• Basic Education Plan
• Career Development Pilot Program
• Administrators' Training Programs
• Principals Assessment Center
• North Carolina Testing Program
• Alcohol/Drug Defense Program
• Dropout Prevention Funds
• Books for the Handicapped
Representing students
Also in response to recent legislation,
two students were appointed to serve in
an advisory capacity on the State
Board of Education. State
Superintendent Craig Phillips
welcomed Portia King of South
Mecklenburg (County) High School
and Gene Dunn ofT.C. Roberson High
School in Buncombe County to their
first Board meeting in November.
Reform Report Card
EDUCATIONALREFORM REPORT CARD
THE NATION NORTH CAROLINA
TEACHER EVALUATION
More than half of the states Since 1982, all school systems skills associated with increased
require evaluation of the have conducted annual student achievement. The new
performance of all teachers. performance evaluations of evaluation process is being
professional school employees. officially piloted in 24 school
In 1985, the evaluation system units and may be used by
for teachers was significantly other systems, on approval of
revised to include teacher the local board of education.
TEACHER CAREER LADDERS
More than half of the states In 1985, 16 school systems expertise in the classroom.
either have statewide career began piloting the Career The program will be tested
ladders or have pilot plans Development Program. The until June 1989, when the
in selected districts. program combines rewards for General Assembly will make
excellent performance, the new decisions about statewide
appraisal system, and implementation. Other school
increased and different systems are experimenting
responsibilities for with programs involving
professionals who have gained career ladder concepts.
TEACHER TESTING
Thirty states (up by 10 since A minimum score on the admission into teacher
1982) require competency tests National Teacher Examination education programs. Students
for initial certification. has been specified in North must pass the professional
Three states have competency Carolina since 1964. In 1985, knowledge and teaching
tests for all teachers. the State Board of Education specialty portions ofthe test in
adopted policies which require order to exit the program and
students to pass the receive initial certification.
communication skills and The state is preparing to
general knowledge portions of revalidate specialty
the test at the conclusion of the examinations and review the
sophomore year for formal minimum score requirement.
STUDENT TESTING
As of 1984-85, states required Since 1977, the state has in order to graduate. In 1985,
local districts to test their administered annual the state began requiring a score
students at least once between achievement and competency above the 25 percentile
grades 1 and 12. Thirty of testing programs. Students in order to be promoted from
these employ uniform state in grades 1,2,3, 6, and 8 are grades 3, 6, and 8. Additional
tests and standards. tested in mathematics, reading annual tests in science, social
and writing , and high school studies, algebra and biology
sophomores must pass a test of are currently being developed.
minimum competencies
TIME IN SCHOOL
Since 1983, five states In 1973, North Carolina Education Program in 1984.
lengthened and one shortened initiated 10-month employ- The plan, stipulating a
their school year. Three ment for its professional required minimum of 5.5
states have lengthened the school personnel including a hours of instructional time per
school day statewide. mandated 180 days of student per day, results in a
instruction. The state began an slight lengthening of the day in
58
eight-year phase-in of its Basic many schools.
THE NATION NORTH CAROLINA
KINDERGARTEN
Twenty-six states finance
a full-day kindergarten for
at least part ofthe children.
In 1986, a total of 646,000
children were enrolled in full-day
kindergarten, 1 ,64 1 ,400
were enrolled in half-day
kindergarten, and another 135,000
were enrolled in alternating days
or some other part-time pattern.
In 1977, North Carolina
became the first state to
implement a full-day
kindergarten on a statewide
basis. More than 90 percent
ofall eligible children (80,000)
are currently enrolled in
kindergarten.
TEACHER SALARIES
Salaries rose in all states but
one over the last two years,
beating the 4 percent annual
inflation rate in four out of five
states. Average salaries rose
$3,312 during that time (7.3
percent per year). The national
average teacher salary is now
$25,257.
Average North Carolina
teacher salaries rose $4,280
(23 percent) over the last two
years. The average North
Carolina teacher salary
is now $22,591.
TEACHERAIDES
*
Data not available on a
nationwide basis.
In 1975, North Carolina
began the enhancement of
its early childhood education
program by adding an adult
teacher aide in each
kindergarten classroom.
Shortly thereafter, this
concept of a second adult in
the classroom was expanded to
include grades 1, 2, and 3.
Currently, all grades K-3
have teacher aides for the
full school day.
GRADUATION REQUIREMENTS
Twenty-eight states increased
graduation requirements since
1983, mainly in mathematics
and science.
The state's Basic Education
Program requires 20 units of
credit in grades 9 through 1
2
in order to graduate from high
school. The two additional
units, to be determined by the
local school system, became
effective in 1986-87. The 20
units include: four in English;
two in mathematics; two in
social studies (one in
government and economics
and one in United States
history); two in science, (one in
a life science or biology and
one in a physical science) ; one
in physical education and
health; and nine to be
determined by the local
education agency.
59
Recommendations
Recommendations
Continuing the momentum
Two years ago. North Carolina
implemented an eight -year plan of
improvement in public education.
Called the Basic Education Program,
the plan, along with the Career Dev-elopment
Program and our efforts to
raise public school employee salaries,
continue to be top priorities in achiev-ing
excellence and equity in public
schools throughout the state.
Recommendation I
Fund the third andfourth years ofthe
Basic Education Program with a
commitment tofullfunding by 1993.
The 1987-89 allocations keep intact
the implementation schedule and
fund, at least in part, the following
major portions of the Basic Education
Program:
Personnel: A phase-in of teachers to
reduce class size in grades 10- 12, to
enhance programs in grades K- 1 2,
and to implement the in-school
suspension program. Full state fund-ing
ofvocational education teachers.
Certified and clerical support posi-tions
in addition to assistant adminis-trative
positions to achieve recom-mended
staffing levels. Staff develop-ment
funds to guarantee training for
educators.
Summer School: Full implemen-tation
of the summer school program,
begun last year, for pupils who fail to
meet state and local promotion stand-ards
or who meet standards but still
need remedial instruction.
Pre-School Screening: A compre-hensive
program to identify
youngsters with potential learning
problems prior to school entry. Screen-ing
includes speech, hearing, sight,mo-tor
skills, health and maturity levels.
Dropout Prevention: A program in
middle grades through grade 1 2 to iden-tify
high-risk students and to prevent
their dropping out of school.
Exceptional Children: Full imple-mentation
of programs for exceptional
children by adjusting the funding
formula by removing internal caps.
Instructional Supplies and Textbooks:
Instructional supplies and textbooks
to complete recommended material
sup-port.
School Facilities: An integral part of
the Basic Education Program is an en-hanced
set of standards for school
facilities, to be constructed with funds
derived from the 1/2* local option
sales tax enacted by the 1985 General
Assembly. Preliminary data indicates
that more than two billion dollars will
be needed to meet Basic Education
facility standards.
Recommendation II
Continue the second and third year
funding ofa salary schedulefor public
school employees.
Last year, the State Board of Edu-cation
adopted a four-year plan to
implement a salary schedule for edu-cators
by providing annual increases
of 7%. Starting teacher salaries
would move to $17,952 in 1987-88 and
to $19,202 in 1988-89.
Recommendation III
Complete the remaining two years of
the Career Development Pilot Pro-gram
in preparationfor state-wide
implementation in 1 989-90.
The Career Development Pilot Pro-gram
is proving that it can impact on
the recruitment and staying power of
teachers by offering not only finan-cial
incentives, but opportunities for
growth and development. Over the
next two years,
Recommendation W
Complete business management
system projects in student accounting,
personnel accountability,fiscal
control, transportation management,
and local payroll and accounting
support.
The modernizing and automating of
various management systems will
reduce paperwork, improve
management functions, and insure
timely, accurate and uniform
reporting.
Recommendation V
Continue to explore new approaches
to learning and expand the use of
technology.
Recent state and national education
reforms have prompted the initiation
of model programs in second lang-uages
and international education
and a "distance learning by satellite"
project in small, rural schools,
added attention will be given to those
new (initially certified) teachers and
administrators in our schools to re-duce
the number leaving the pro-fession
and insure high qualifyjob
performance.
Recommendation VI
Continue to explore the most effective
and efficient ways to provide programs
for three- andfour-year-olds.
Research has shown that the first four
years of a youngster's existence are
perhaps the most critical in his or her
life. Involving the state's public
schools in providing child care for pre-schoolers
is an urgent need.
Providing the Funds
Total Salary Increase
Total Basic Education Program
Total Career Development Items
Total
Total Other Items
Total Request
Department of Public Instruction
Controller's Office Request
1987-88
$165,574,775
149,243,743
(2,803)
18,109,991
(16)
1988-89
$309,934,974
251,831,037
(5,946)
24,415,133
(16)
332,928,509
(2,819)
58,118,923
(144)
586,181,144
(5,962)
39,144,809
(144)
$391,047,432
(2,963)
$625,325,953
(6,106)
$3,646,094
(89)
$3,517,619
(89)
$617,472
(17)
$880,720
(17)
88 Expansion Budget
Basic Education Program 38°/
Salary Increases 39%
Career Development -6%
State Agency 1
Other LEA Programs 14%
1988-89 Expansion Budget
Basic Education Program 42%
State Agency,
Salary Increases 45%
mKPrograms 5%
iment 7%
sutions to Meeting the
qauenge included photographs
from the following school systems
and newspapers:
Alamance County Schools
Burlington Times-News
Caldwell County Schools
Dare County Schools
Davidson County Schools
Edgecombe County Schools
Gaston County Schools
Halifax County Schools
The Kinston Free Press
McDowell County Schools
Mooresville City Schools
Pitt County Schools
Polk County Schools
Robeson County Schools
Winston-Salem /Forsyth Schools
For More Information
Raise your hand...
For additional information on the
summaries in Meeting the Challenge
and other legislative initiatives in
North Carolina public schools,
contact:
Margaret Hayden, Assistant State
Superintendent, Legislative Services
North Carolina Department of Public
Instruction
Education Building
1 1 4 West Edenton Street
Raleigh, North Carolina 27603-1712
919/733-3813
Publishing information
Meeting the Challenge, the State
Superintendent's Biennial Report
1985-87, was developed by the
Legislative Services Area of the
Department of Public Instruction for
distribution to the Governor and to
members of the North Carolina
General Assembly.
The report was prepared for
publication by the Department's
Division of School-Community
Relations. Order additional copies
from room 362 in the Education
Building, 919/733-4258-
STATE LIBRARY OF NORTH CAROLINA
3 3091 00748 1823
DATE DUE
\PR 19 1990
c*v L o»o '«""«-"»•-
ISSUED BY THE STATE SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION

^j$:y^Sxi^ff-
' • .....;
JII £
Meeting
_ „ the
Challenge
NORTH CAROLINA DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC EDUCATION BIENNIAL REPORT
7,000 copies of this publication were printed
at a cost of $7,285.00 or $1 .04 per copy.
Biennial Report, 1985-87
Meeting
^ « the
Challenge
NORTH CAROLINA DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC EDUCATION
Meeting the Challenge
In the two years since my last Biennial Report to the Governor and the General
Assembly, much has happened in our public schools for which all North
Carolinians have reason to be proud.
We adopted the Basic Education Program and, with its second year of
funding underway, took the first step toward guaranteeing every child in
North Carolina a fundamentally complete education.
We began piloting a Career Development Program to recognize and
reward good teaching, with the intention of implementing it statewide by
the 1989-90 school year.
We raised teacher salaries, a critical element in attracting and retaining
good teachers.
We implemented new state promotion standards in grades 3,6, and 8, and
introduced the first state- supported remedial summer school to help
students meet them.
We began to address critical school building needs, with the passage of a
new half-cent local option sales tax that earmarks funds for school
construction.
We saw North Carolina students continue to score above the national
average in our Annual Testing Program, despite rising scores
nationwide.
Clearly, these and other accomplishments would not have been possible
without the dedicated efforts of students and parents, teachers and
principals, legislators and school board members, and many, many
others. Even as we take pride in our accomplishments ofthese past two
years, we must not lose sight of the mammoth task remaining before us.
Eighteen years ago, the Governor's Study Commission on the Public
School System of North Carolina issued its report, "A Child Well
Taught." In it, the Commission sought to determine how the people of
North Carolina could best "meet their obligation to provide full
educational opportunities for their children."
Some of the Commission's responses to that question, most notably
kindergarten, smaller classes, more time for teachers and strengthened
reading programs, were adopted soon after the report was issued. Others
have only recently found expression in the Basic Education Program and
the Career Development Program. Much remains to be done.
As you read this report, I urge you to reflect on the many
accomplishments of our schools over the past 18 years. I also urge you to
mark our current progress in carrying out the mandate of the Basic
Education Program and the Career Development Program. We have
achieved much in the past two years. Finally, I ask that you consider
ways you can help reach the high goals and standards we have set for our
schools and for ourselves.
Our mission is too important to stand still. Let's keep moving forward.
Craig PhiJfipsN
State SupWimendent of Public Instruction
Table ofContents
Meeting the Challenge
Student Services
Basic Education Program
Spelling it out
The first two years
Scheduled for 87-89
Funding summer school
Screening preschoolers
Defining the instructional day
Monitoring compliance
Meeting facility needs
Improving the curriculum
Vocational Education
Learning a living
Evaluating
Adapting to change
Computers in the Schools
Developing literacy
Instructing by satellite
Exceptional Children
Serving special needs
Child Nutrition
Adding food for thought
Transportation
Getting there
Textbooks
Adopting selections
Student Services
Counseling
Academic Achievement
Statewide Testing
Measuring progress
Graduation Requirements
Increasing demands
Advanced Placement
Expecting more
Scholars Program
Recognizing achievement
Personnel Services
Career Development Pilot
Rewarding effectiveness
Effective Teaching Training
Improving performance
Teacher Recruitment Office
Attracting the best
Adding incentives
Quality Assurance
Raising standards
Staff Development
Learning continues
Leadership Institute
Assessment Center
Distance learning
Supply and Demand
Analyzing the market
Matching supply to demand
Initial Certification Program
Support for new personnel
Regional Education Centers
Delivering these services
21
22
23
24
Finance
Reporting system
Salary history
Per pupil expenditure
Community Services
Joining hands to...
Fight alcohol and drug abuse
Reduce dropouts
Prevent child abuse
Open school doors
Legislative Services
Communicating the challenge
Representing students
Reform Report Card
Recommendations
Continuing the momentum
Providing the funds
For Additional Information
Raise your hand
Publishing information
Student Services
Digitized by the Internet Archive
in 2012 with funding from
LYRASIS Members and Sloan Foundation
http://archive.org/details/biennialreporto198587nort
Basic Education Program
Spelling it out
,..to provide each
student in the North
Carolina public schools
a basic level of instruc-tional
programs and
services, regardless of
geographic location or
local economic
factors..." (1985,
Ch. 479, Preamble to
8. 55)
The Basic Education Program spells
out the educational program that will
be available to every child in North
Carolina.
While the BEP does not describe an
ideal education program, it does
describe a program of instruction
which is fundamentally complete and
which would insure equality in
education for every student.
The BEP addresses the problem of the
unequal distribution ofwealth that
allows some counties to spend more
on public schooling than poorer
counties. Once implemented, the
Program will offer students up-to-date
textbooks, smaller classes,
adequate libraries and the
opportunity to learn a second
language.
Although the Program will mean
tougher standards, more help will be
offered to students who have trouble
achieving these standards.
The premise that there is a common
core of knowledge and skills which
every child ought to command when
he or she graduates from high school
is essential to the concept of the Basic
Education Program. The BEP
addresses all aspects of a child's
development, from kindergarten
through high school.
The arts, communication skills,
library, media and computer skills,
second language studies, guidance,
healthful living, mathematics,
science, social studies and vocational
education are all included in the core
of knowledge addressed by the BEP.
The program also includes support
services, such as guidance and
psychological services; promotion
standards; special programs, such as
in-school suspension, compensatory
education and summer school;
programs for exceptional children;
equipment and material needs;
staffing ratios; staff development,
and facilities standards.
The State Board of Education has
recommended that the BEP be
implemented over eight years at a cost
of around $700 million (in 1985
dollars) over current state spending.
North Carolina Basic Education Program
"The Basic Education
Program shall describe....
a core curriculum for all
students.... a set of
competencies by grade
level for each curriculum
area." (GS 115C-81 fb))
CORE
CURRICULUM
Arts Education
Communication Skills
Guidance
Healthful Living
Library/Media/Computer Skills
Mathematics
Science
Second Language Studies
Social Studies
Vocational Education
Thefirst two years..
Highlights of the first two years of the
Basic Education Program's eight-year
implementation schedule include:
- 1 5 1 classroom teachers to reduce
class size in grades 7, 8, and 9 to 26.
- 52 assistant principals of the 379
called for in the BEP.
- A summer school program for
students in grades 3, 6, and 8 who
failed to meet state and/or local
promotion policies ($10, 790, 000).
- Funds for instructional materials
and equipment contained in the
BEP (total of $7,741 ,863).
- 100 finance officers (one per county)
- Textbook funds ($6,579,740) to meet
the BEP provision of$20 per child
in average daily membership
- 706 in-school suspension teachers,
dropout prevention and/orjob
placement counselors.
Scheduledfor 87-89...
338 1 classroom teachers ofwhich
3 124 are needed to implement the
BEP's expanded curriculum in
grades K- 12 and 257 are needed to
reduce class size in grades 10-12.
- Full state funding ofvocational
education teachers.
- 1 38 in-school suspension teachers,
dropout prevention and/orjob
placement counselors.
- 400 instructional support (school
psychologists, school social
workers, guidance counselors,
media specialists and school
nurses) positions.
- Summer school program for
students in grades 3, 6, and 8 who
fail to meet state promotion
standards or students in grades K-
12 who fail to meet local promotion
standards.
- 1 702 additional clerical assistants to
relieve teachers ofnon-teaching
duties.
Funds for instructional supplies to
$25 per ADM.
- 86 additional assistant/associate
superintendents.
"...to provide intensive
remedial summer school
programs and related
transportation in the
local school adminis-trative
unit..." (1985,
Ch. 479, S. 55(B))
Funding summer school
The 1985-86 BEP Summer School
Program expenditures totalled
$6,241,774. Amounts for each broad
category of expenses are:
\ Tot
[aph1
bsts of BEP
Summer School
Total Costs = $6,241,774
Teacher
Lead Teacher
Instruc. /Support
Personnel
Instructional Supplies
Transportation
Total
$3,993,117
635,331
560,530
410,372
642,424
$6,241,774
10.29%
Transportation "10.18%
Lead Teachers
Grade 3 Grade 6 Grade 8
State - 2, 1 52 State - 4,069 State - 4,402
Local- 1,488 Local- 1,652 Local-2,315
Rem. - 2,716 Rem. - 1,437 Rem. - 1,361
6,356 7,158 8,078
Graph 2 Students Enrolled
Grade 3 Grade 6
^m State
I I Remediation I I Local
Based on the most recent data made
available through the Division of
Planning and Research, the 1985-86
Summer School Program provided
services to a minimum of 2 1 ,592
North Carolina students in grades 3,
6, and 8.
Participants were enrolled by reason
of attendance, i.e., state, local and
remediation standards. The
accompanying graph reflects
numbers based on data from 135 of
the 141 school administrative units.
Graph #2 shows the number of
students enrolled by grade level and
reason for attendance.
Graph #3 reflects the grade level
percentage breakdown of the total
number of students enrolled in the
1985-86 BEP Summer School
Program. J
Grade 3
6,356
(29.40%)
Grade 8
8,078
(37.40%)
Grade 6
7,158
(33.20%)
Graph 3
Participants by Grade
(percentages)
21 ,592 students
29.40%
Grade 3
Graph 4
Enrollment by Grade
(percentages)
Total 21, 592 students
Of the total number of students
reported in attendance, state
participants made up 49% ofthe total
enrollment, with local and
remediation, 25% and 26%
respectively.
Graph #4 shows the percentage
breakdown for total state, local and
remediation enrollment.
State Local
10,623 5,455
(49.00%) (25.00%)
21,592
Remediation
5,514
(26.00%)
Over 16,000 or 74.50% of the 2 1,592
students were subject to state and
local promotion standards.
£Percentage of Teachers
by Grade
1 725 Teachers
-35.50% (61 3)
30.60% (528)
33.90% (584)
Total Number of
Teachers Employed - 1 , 725
,' /.
"...to establish preschool
screening /evaluation
programs in 15 local pilot
school administrative
units..." (1985, Ch. 1014,
S. 75)
Screening preschoolers
The 1986 session of the 1985 General
Assembly appropriated $287,000 for
15 pilot preschool screening /eval-uation
projects. The school systems
selected will provide baseline data to
determine strategies for imple-menting
a statewide preschool
screening program.
Through the efforts of the pilots, the
state will gather information on:
• key components of a good preschool
screening program;
• types of costs associated with a
preschool screening program;
• amount offunds required to carry out
a program; and
• educational outcomes that result
from the screenings and
evaluations that are conducted.
Participating are Alamance, Chowan,
Cumberland, Johnston, Madison,
Onslow, Perquimans, Pitt, Rowan, and
Transylvania county systems and
Burlington, Clinton, Goldsboro,
Hickory and Roanoke Rapids city
units.
Roanoke Rapids
Burlington City « .. . City
Chowan
Transylvania
Onslow
Clinton City
"...The Board shall
develop a State accredi-tation
program that
meets or exceeds the
standards and require-ments
of the Basic
Education Program..."
(115C-12(9)c.)
School systems will use a variety of
programs to screen children in the
following areas: cognitive, motor,
speech, hearing, vision, language,
health, nutrition, social/emotional
maturity and dental. Follow-up
evaluations will be based on
children's performance on the
various screening areas.
Each school system was eligible to
receive a $5,000 base allocation plus
$1 per student in ADM, K- 12. Funds
are to be used primarily to train
screeners, purchase screening
equipment and supplies, pay salaries
or substitutes for screeners, and
purchase in-depth evaluations for
children who do not meet specified
standards.
Defining the
instructional day
The North Carolina State Board of
Education adopted the 5.5 hour
instructional day as a part of the
"Standards'' section of the Basic
Education Program at its December
1984 meeting.
The policy was amended by the State
Board of Education in February 1985
to include mandatory imple-mentation
of the 5.5 hour instruc-tional
day requirement in 1986-87 for
students in grades K-8.
Students in grades 9- 1 2 were excluded
until the State allocates the number
of teachers necessary for imple-menting
the policy without forcing
some high schools to violate class size
and the 1 50 daily contacts per teacher
statutes.
To facilitate implementation of the
5.5 hour instructional day policy, the
State Board revised the imple-mentation
schedule for the Basic
Education Program. The revision
provides a total of 1028 teachers for
grades 9- 1 2 during the 1 987-89
biennium to provide the teachers
necessary for implementing the
policy in grades K- 1 2.
Monitoring BEP compliance
Public schools in North Carolina are
required by state statute to seek
accreditation by the State Board of
Education as a means of insuring
compliance with features and expec-tations
of the Basic Education
Program.
The accreditation process of the State
Board of Education is being modified
to include statewide standards of
program opportunity and student
performance. As these standards are
implemented, school systems
throughout the state will strive for
their attainment.
As school systems become accredited
or re-accredited, their programs and
student performance will reflect the
quality education made possible by the
Basic Education Program.
Meeting facility needs
The Basic Education Program will
mean more teachers, more programs
and a need for more facilities to house
an expanded curriculum and staff.
Basic Education funding for addition-al
teachers and support personnel to
lower class sizes results in the need for
more classrooms and related support
facilities and equipment such as
offices, augmented mechanical
equipment, custodial, instructional
equipment and materials and main-tenance.
The facilities portion of the Basic
Education Program contains recom-mendations
for spaces for classrooms
and support facilities. These recom-mended
spaces are similar to those
areas which have been suggested by the
Division of School Planning relative
to various school planning com-ponents.
These areas do not signify
fixed sizes, size ratios, interrelation-ships
or appropriate configurations
for subjects and activities as these
determinations are made by architects
and educators working together.
The reduction in class size projected
for 1987-88 through 1992-93 will
place a burden on some school
systems, particularly those with
membership growth. The recently
completed update to the 1984 facil-ities
survey details the facility needs
of school systems.
As stated in the Basic Education
Program, "School facilities should
provide an adequate environment to
support all learning activities, func-tions
and student services which
make up the total school curriculum."
Typical spaces needed for schools are:
elementary schools- 100 square feet
per student (400-700 students);
middle/junior high schools- 1 20
square feet per student (500-800
students); and high schools- 160
square feet per student (800- 1200
students) . These areas vary in size
and nature according to the schools'
membership and curriculum
offerings.
Also included in the BEP is the
minimum site acreage recommended
for schools by the Council of Edu-cational
Facility Planners. Site sizes
recommended are: elementary- 10
acres plus one acre for each 100
students; middle school/junior high
-
20 acres plus one acre for each 100
students; and high school-30 acres
plus one acre for each 1 00 students
plus 10 acres for an athletic complex.
In addition, other facility standards
outlined in the Basic Education
Program are board of education
offices, maintenance shop, trans-portation
garage, school food service
office and storage and equipment.
Improving the curriculum
Individuals and groups throughout
North Carolina provided the assis-tance
and cooperation necessary for
the Department of Public Instruction
to revise the NORTH CAROLINA
STANDARD COURSE OF STUDY and
to develop the TEACHER HANDBOOK
for the competency-based curriculum.
More than 8000 local educators partic-ipated
in the writing of the documents
and in reacting to early drafts. Almost
300 persons from institutions of high-er
education advised the staffand assis-ted
in the development of the curri-culum.
Prior to distribution, the North
Carolina State Board of Education
reviewed the TEACHER HANDBOOKto
assure protection ofthe family.
In October 1985, over 3000 copies of
the STANDARD COURSE OF STUDY
were distributed to local school dis-tricts,
other state-supported schools,
institutions of higher education,
textbook publishers and legislators.
Beginning in February 1986, approxi-mately
3000 sets of the TEACHER
HANDBOOK for the competency-based
curriculum were shipped to the same
groups.
Since that time, another (approx-imately)
3000 copies of the STAN-DARD
COURSE OF STUDY and
another 1500 sets ofthe TEACHER
HANDBOOK have been distributed to
these groups as well as to interested
individuals and organizations, private
schools, other state agencies and
education agencies in other states.
The Department of Public Instruction
will continue to work toward revising
and improving the curriculum to meet
the needs of the children of North
Carolina, using a process similar to
that used during the development of the
documents
"...a comprehensive
program of vocational
education which shall be
available to all students
who desire it..." (115C-
151)
Vocational Education
Learning a living
During the 1985-87 biennium,
approximately 330,000 students were
enrolled each year in at least one
vocational education course
including those in agriculture,
business and office, health, consumer
homemaking and occupational home
economics, industrial arts,
prevocational, marketing education
and trade and industrial education.
About one-third of the vocational
students were minorities, and over
one-halfwere females. Disadvan-taged
students made up 20% of the
enrollment, and over 5% were
handicapped.
A total of 4852 state and federal
teaching positions were allocated for
these students with local units
funding from 26% to 32% of the
salaries.
Evaluating
To keep pace with the changing
economy, each school unit has
established a follow-up system to
evaluate the progress of students who
have completed vocational education
in high school. This feedback from
former students revealed that:
• average statewide
unemployment for 1984-85
completers was 6% while overall
unemployment for all youths aged 16-
19 was 17%,
• 43% said vocational educa-tion
was a main reason they stayed in
school,
• 77% rated vocational
education as above average in
effectively preparing them forjobs,
and
• 81% ranked the programs as
above average in effectively preparing
them for further education.
Adapting to change
Standards adopted for vocational
education by the 1985 General
Assembly emphasize:
• preventing unnecessary
duplication,
• documenting labor market
demand for all vocational education
courses, and
• responding to technological
and societal changes.
To comply with these and other
standards and requirements, a
statewide two-year curriculum study
involving hundreds of constituents
was completed, and a system was set up
to evaluate 20% of the vocational
programs locally each year.
Assisting with on-going evaluation
and resulting improvement are over
3000 community representatives who
serve on local advisory committees for
vocational education programs, and
1 54 who serve in an advisory capacity
at the state level. A massive effort to
continually improve vocational
education is being done with the help
of these constituents.
Computers in Schools
Developing literacy
By the end of the 1986-87 school year,
the number of microcomputers in the
North Carolina schools is projected to
be over 4 1 ,500 for an approximate
ratio of one computer for every 26
students.
This figure surpasses a goal, set
several years ago, of establishing a
ratio ofone computer for every 50
students to allow 30 minutes per week
of computer access time for each
student.
This goal was set by a committee
created by the 1 983 General Assembly
to study computer literacy in North
Carolina public schools. The study
commission's report, submitted to the
1984 session of the General Assembly,
endorsed the "State Plan for
Computer Utilization in the North
Carolina Public Schools" and
recommended that "the State Board of
Education should review each school
system's local plan to assure that... its
students are receiving basic computer
awareness instruction prior to
graduation."
School systems were asked to develop
computer education programs which
included computer awareness skills
for students and educators. Skills for
students were based on the goal ofeach
student being able to demonstrate an
understanding of computers, their
operation and their possible
application to solving relevant
problems.
Skills for educators focused on the
ability to use the computer and
appropriate software as a tool in the
ongoing instructional program.
During the first year of the two-year
training period, 40,3 15 certified
personnel were involved in the
training.
The General Assembly appropriated
$28.4 million to provide funding of
the committee's proposals for
computer hardware, computer
literacy software, maintenance and
staffdevelopment.
Number of Microcomputers Reported
Funds were allocated to local school
systems by grade levels over a three-year
period, starting with grades 7-12
in 1984-85.
By the completion of the funding, the
General Assembly will have appro-priated
$2 million for computer train-ing
of certified personnel and $26.4
million for computer hardware, soft-ware,
supplies, repairs and main-tenance.
The placement and use of these com-puters
varies across the state. For
example, computers in place at the end
of the 1985-86 school year were used
primarily for computer literacy and
computer-assisted instruction and
were located mostly in classrooms or
computer labs.
Location of
Computers
Computer Awareness Expenditures
Hardware 95.6%
are, Supplies
Maintenance
epairs, Maintenance
12|%
Software, Supplies
7.4%
Staff Development
1985-86
$13.5 million
Hardwan
/vare, Supplies
10.7%
:% Staff Development
Repairs, maintenance
1986-87
$9.6 million
The conclusion of the funding for
computer literacy will mark the succ-essful
establishment ofan initial
statewide level of computer oppor-tunities
for students and teachers.
Computer awareness related needs
still to be addressed include staffing,
software and supplies, alternative
delivery systems, teacher support,
specialized peripherals, facility
needs, demonstration sites and
specialized training.
Uses of Microcomputers
June 1986
140LEAs Reporting
Instructing by satellite
Added course requirements brought
about by the Basic Education
Program and the push to provide this
basic education for all North
Carolina school children have
brought about the need for non-traditional
instructional methods.
Several other states have used
distance learning by satellite
programs to address problems of
reaching remote areas and providing
certain courses to students in small
schools.
Distance learning by satellite is
necessary in North Carolina to
address the pupil and teacher
shortages in rural and small schools.
These schools cannot afford teachers
for low enrollment classes. Teacher
shortages in math, science and
foreign languages also make it
difficult for schools to offer these
Equity in education is another
reason for the alternate delivery
system. Requirements that all
school-age children have the
opportunity for an education,
regardless ofwhether they can be
physically present in a classroom, and
higher standards for high school
graduation mean other ways have to be
found to provide instruction.
The use of satellite technology is a new
and innovative method of delivering
information from one location to
another. It provides public education a
method of teaching highly specialized
courses using a finite amount of
resources in a very cost-effecitve
manner since teachers can reach very
large audiences even though the
number at any one site may be
relatively small.
Schools can also better meet the needs
of all their students through a wider
range ofcourse offerings without the
need for additionally certified staff.
Under the state education department's
plan, satellite instruction would be
used to deliver instruction to
supplement classroom teachers. (For
more information on Satellite
learning, see the Services to Personnel
section.)
Exceptional Children
Serving special needs
North Carolina began funding for
exceptional children during the 1949-
50 school year. A total of 2, 1 75
children with special needs were
served by 55 teachers.
Since that time, programs and
services for exceptional children
have expanded, and during the 1985-
86 school year, a total of 1 74, 1 1
3
children with special needs were
provided educational and related
services in the public schools by
6, 557 teachers.
Ofthe total number of children served,
111 ,275 of the students were classified
as handicapped, representing 10.25
percent of the total school age
population. The remaining 62,838
exceptional children were classified as
academically gifted, representing 5. 79
percent of the total school age
population.
State funding for exceptional children
during the 1985-86 school year totaled
$ 1 54,500,40 1 . The federal government
added $3 1 ,564,000 to the total funding
for exceptional children in that school
year.
Number of Children Served
1985-86 School Year
Academically Gifted 62,838
Autistic 435
Deaf- Blind 7
Behaviorally/Emotionally Handicapped 6,804
Educable Mentally Handicapped 18,849
Hearing Impaired 1 ,39
1
Specific Learning Disabled 47,758
Multihandicapped 1,082
Other Health Impaired 1 ,047
Pregnant 397
Physically/Orthopedically Handicapped 1 ,054
Speech-Language Impaired 27, 1 43
Severely/Profoundly Mentally Handicapped 910
Trainable Mentally Handicapped 3,855
Visually Impaired 543
TOTAL 174,113
Number of Children by Type of Class Setting
Handicapped and Academically Gifted
Number of
Children
Percent of
EC Population
Regular Class - the majority
of educational services are provided
in the regular classroom; however, up
to 2 1% of the school day may be spent
outside the regular classroom
Resource - special educational
services are provided outside
the regular classroom for 2
1
through 60% of the school day
Self-Contained - special educational
services are provided in a special
class of school for more than 60%
of the school day
Public School Facility - special educational
services are provided in a separate public
school facility for more than 50% of the school
day
Private School Facility - special educational
services are provided in a separate private
school facility for more than 50% of the school
day
Public /Private Residential Facility - special
educational services are provided in a residential
facility for more than 50% of the school day
Homebound/Hospital - special educational
services are provided in a home or hospital
setting
Exceptional Children
Growth in Programs
Five and Ten Years
Child Nutrition
Adding food...for thought
Child nutrition programs are an
integral part of public education.
These programs contribute to the
nutrition education and well-being of
children as well as the overall
curriculum. Nutrition education
supplemental test information is
provided as a complement to the
healthful living curricular.
All public schools, with the exception
of Ocracoke School, participate in
the National School Lunch Program
with 136 LEAs and 1637 schools
participating in the School Breakfast
Program.
As a daily average, 738, 128 children
receive the benefits of lunch while
1 62 , 5 1 4 begin their day with school
breakfast. Participation increased by
132 meals during school year 1986
while membership decreased 3 168.
LEAs receive $ 1 1 7,279,73 1 in federal
funds and $9,594,779 in state matching
money designated for child nutrition
supervision. Local appropriations and
children's payments of$138,536,224
completed the total $265,8 10,734 spent
for child nutrition.
Transportation
Getting there
Each day, more than 705,254
students are transported by 13,002
school buses in North Carolina.
Annual cost per student for school
bus transportation is $ 1 1 3.26. North
Carolina's school buses travel over
115 million miles each year.
School bus drivers in this state have
been recognized as having one of the
best school bus safety records in the
country.
Despite this record, the National
Transportation Safety Board has
recommended that drivers aged 16-
17, who make up one third of the
total number ofbus drivers in North
Carolina, no longer be allowed to
drive school buses.
Making such a change would require
funds totaling $28 million and a
recruitment effort, particularly in
rural areas where more student bus
drivers are used.
The management of the school bus
transportation system in local school
systems is being updated through the
use of computers.
TIMS, the Transportation Information
Management System, is a computer-assisted
school bus routing and
scheduling system that is being piloted
in Durham County and Cumberland
County.
TIMS is a cost-effective and practical
computerized system for assisting local
school units in digitizing street
networks; maintaining current,
accurate road maps; and generating
efficient, cost-saving bus routes and
schedules.
Another system underway in about
half the county school bus systems is
the State Vehicle Fleet Maintenance
System. This parts inventory and
preventive maintenance computer
system is expected to be in use in all
school bus garages by June and will
make for a more effective means of
scheduling buses for maintenance.
Textbooks
Adopting Selections
North Carolina, one of 22 states with
a central system for adopting
textbooks, spends over $20 million
each year ($20 per student) for
textbooks for required classes at the
elementary and secondary levels and
for some elective high school courses.
The 14 member Textbook Commis-sion,
with the assistance ofhundreds
of teachers, reviews books submitted
by publishers and evaluates them for
quality of content and the degree to
which they include instructional
materials that support the objectives
of the North Carolina Standard
Course of Study.
The recommendations of the
Textbook Commission, along with
bids submitted by the publishers, are
considered by the State Board of
Education. The Board then adopts
those books they believe are the most
appropriate for the North Carolina
curriculum.
The textbook adoption process, which
is coordinated by the Instructional
Services Area of the Department of
Public Instruction, is a continuous
process with an approximate five-year
adoption cycle for most books.
Instructional Services determines
criteria for textbooks to support the
curriculum, coordinates meetings of
the Textbook Commission, holds
regional meetings for local school
system personnel to hear presentations
by the publishers, and disseminates
current lists of adopted textbooks and
other information pertinent to the
process.
Textbooks are purchased from
publishers and distributed to local
school systems through the State
Textbook Warehouse in Raleigh. The
problem of insuring the prompt
delivery of textbooks was recently
addressed by members of the State
Board of Education.
The Board determined the need to add
clauses to contracts with textbook
publishers to insure timely delivery.
The clauses state the sellers must
furnish books within 45 calendar
days of the order date or pay $ 100 for
each day's delay. Sellers may request
a delay in writing that may or may
not be approved by the Board.
Also, sellers must agree to provide
delayed net billing privileges to the
Board during years two through five
of the contracts as well as any terms
of renewal. Delayed net billing
allows the Board to order any
quantity of textbooks in the
contracts from March through May,
and to return any unopened cartons
ofthese books to sellers during
September and October. The Board
will pay at the end of October for all
books ordered in the spring less
books returned unopened during
September and October.
Student Services
Counseling
Student Services programs include
school counseling, psychological,
social work and health services
(nursing] for all students. They
insure that students have skills and
experiences that enable them to
benefit from instruction by
providing leadership and direction
in programs and services that
contribute to the cognitive, physical,
emotional and social development of
students.
These programs focus on the
academic and personal well-being of
students and on helping to prevent or
correct conditions which might
interfere with learning or
development.
Currently, 1814 school counselors
are employed in 140 school districts
across the state. This represents a
ratio ofone counselor (primarily
high school level) for every 596
students in Average Daily
Membership.
Fifty-four school districts employ 85
nurses, which on a state level would
represent a ratio of only one school
nurse for every 7,876 students in
average daily membership.
Forty- eight school districts employ
350 school psychologists (four school
psychologists serve as local program
administrators for Exceptional
Children) for a ratio of one school
psychologist for every 3,088 students in
Average Daily Membership.
Nine school districts employ 256
school social workers for a ratio of one
social worker for every 4,2 16 students
in average daily membership.
Ratio of Student Services Personnel
In Local School Districts
8000
7000
6000
5000
1000
500
In
Bar represents one LEA Student Services Staff person
for every 1 ,079,284 students in Average Daily Membership i Current Ratios II Basic Education
Program Ratios
Academic Achievement
Statewide Testing
"...the State Board of
Education shall imple-ment
an annual statewide
testing program in basic
subjects..." (115C-174.il)
Measuring progress
Progress in school achievement is
measured in North Carolina through
achievement tests administered in
grades 1,2,3,6 and 8 and through
testing in high school for minimum
competencies or for specific
achievement in various courses.
Although numerous tests are
administered each year, the
maximum cost of testing is about
$4.50 per student or less than one
tenth of a percent of the per pupil
expenditures for education. For this
investment in testing, parents and
teachers have adequate indicators of
a student's progress across various
grades, and administrators have
information which can be used to
guide curriculum and instruction as
well as school accountability.
ANNUALTESTING -The Statewide
Testing Program began in 1978 by
establishing statewide achievement
benchmarks. In 1986, the overall
achievement in basic skills was
measured against new national
standards set in 1985. When
measured against these standards,
North Carolina students scored
above the national average at all
grades tested; whereas, they had
scored below national norms in
1978. Moving upward in relation to
national standards demonstrates
that achievement has improved more
in North Carolina than in the nation
in the past nine years.
ANNUAL TESTING PROGRAM
STATEWIDE TEST SCORES ON
S CALIFORNIA ACHIEVEMENT TESTS
(Total Battery Percentiles)
OiWM ? f *
r r
Third:_1978 (43rd)
taOl J985 (66th)
s
:
:*•--*• ?'»"1
JIU 1985 (64th)
1
1 1985 (62nd)
WRITING TEST-Writing skills of
students in the middle grades in North
Carolina are assessed through a
writing test which is scored by
qualified readers. The latest writing
assessments show marked
improvement in reducing the
proportion of students who scored at
the lowest level. Some improvement
was also shown at the higher levels of
writing skills.
SCHOLASTIC APTITUDE TEST (SAT)-
Verbal scores on the SAT for North
Carolina high school students have
risen by eight points since 1977-78 and
SAT mathematics scores are up by 1
1
points. During the past eight years,
gains were recorded in math during five
of the years and verbal scores rose in
four of these years. North Carolina
students typically score lower than
students nationally on this test because
ofbackground differences.
NORTH CAROLINA SAT SCORES
COMPETENCY TEST--North
Carolina's Competency Test,
administered to eleventh graders
since its inception in 1978, has been
moved to the tenth grade. Students
will take this basic skills test for the
first time in the tenth grade, with
chances to retake the test and pass in
the eleventh and twelth grades. A
minimum competency test was
established to insure that high
school graduates had basic skills for
surviving independently in society.
During the years from 1978 to 1985,
the percentages passing the
Competency Test rose by about five
percentage points. Currently, only
about eight to 10 percent of the
students taking the test for the first
time fail to meet the standards. Most
ofthese students ultimately pass the
test after remediation.
NEWTESTS-New testing programs
assist teachers and principals in
identifying students at grades 3, 6
and 8 who should not be promoted
without being remediated
successfully in summer school. Tests
at these grades also provide
information to teachers so student
weaknesses can be addressed.
Testing in high schools is also
beginning in certain courses that are
required for college preparation.
Results from these end-of-course
tests can be used to review
achievement by courses for the state,
region and local school system.
NORTH CAROLINA COMPETENCY TESTS
PERCENTAGE OF JUNIORS PASSING THE TESlI
PERCENTAGE PASSING
GROUP O 60 65 70
STATEWIDE
Reading:
90 95 100
1978 (90.0%)
1 1985 (94.4%)l
1978 (85.0%)
~| 1985 (91.5%)
>
Teachers and principals may also elect
to use the information for
administrative and grading decisions.
In reflecting on the statewide testing
programs, important points to
remember are: (1) that curriculum and
instruction can be improved through
the use of testing information; (2) that
schools can improve school/parent
relationships by positively sharing
information; and (3) that test scores,
even though they may be only partially
indicative of the total effort of the
schools, can be a strong indicator of
educational accountability.
Graduation Requirements
Increasing demands
The ever increasing demands for
successful participation in American
society and the explosion in the
knowledge and skills necessary for
achieving success in the work place
have increased expectations and
standards for students in high
schools throughout America.
These increased demands have
resulted in a more comprehensive
high school curriculum designed to
provide for a wide range of student
interest and abilities as well as better
preparation for the demands of the
changing society.
In recognition of the increased
demands of the work place and higher
education, the State Board of Education
has increased the minimum
graduation requirements significantly
since 1979. Changes in the minimum
number ofcourse credits and in the
North Carolina Competency Test have
been adopted by the State Board.
i—
•
Graduation Requirements
Subject(s)
English
Mathematics
Science
Social Studies
Health/Physical Ed.
Electives as determined
by local board
Class of Class of Class of
1981-82 1982-83 1986-87
4 4 4
1 2
2 1 2
2 2 2
1 1 1
6 7 9
16 IK 20
Advanced Placement
Expecting more
The Advanced Placement Program is
a cooperative educational endeavor
sponsored by the College Board.
Based on the fact that many young
people can complete college-level
studies in their secondary schools,
the AP program represents a desire of
schools and colleges to foster such
experience.
Advanced Placement consists of
curricular and instructional guides
and examination in the subject areas
of art, biology, chemistry, computer
science, English, French, German,
government and politics, history,
Latin, mathematics, music, physics
and Spanish.
Students receive high school course
credit upon successful completion of
the course(s) as well as college credit
for courses in which the student
makes the designated score on the
examination in a given course.
School and student interest in
Advanced Placement has increased
significantly during the last 10 years.
Advanced Placement Program
1976 1983 1984 1985 1986
No. High Schools Providing AP Courses
No. Students Taking Examinations
Total No. ofAP Examinations
(includes all subject exams)
78 197 198 214 221
1157 3530 3985 4603 5032
1410 4500 5091 5954 6625
Scholars Program
Recognizing achievement
The North Carolina State Board of
Education approved the North
Carolina Scholars Program in
March 1983.
The program is designed to recognize
high school students who complete a
rigorous, well-balanced curriculum
and maintain, as a minimum, an
overall grade average of "B" or its
equivalent as determined by the local
board of education.
Students qualifying for the North
Carolina Scholars Program are
recognized by the North Carolina
State Board of Education. A seal is
provided which is affixed to the
student's diploma.
The Scholars Program requires the
student to complete 22 course units in
grades 9- 12. Two programs of study are
included in an effort to provide
students as much flexibility in course
selection as possible.
Plan A is a broad, well-balanced
program of studies that emphasizes
advanced study in all curricular areas.
Plan B includes most of the advanced
courses contained in Plan Abut does
allow the student to concentrate in a
curricular area of her/his choice.
The program has been well received by
students, teachers, and administrators.
Participation has increased
significantly during the three years the
program has been in effect.
Participation Summary
Students Qualifying
Schools Participating
Percent of Seniors
Qualifying
3911
286
4028
315
5232
316
Personnel Services
Career Development Pilot
"...shall be based on
continuous evaluation of
teacher performance...on
experience derived from
pilot units...shall be
designed to give an
employee increasing
responsibility,
recognition and pay
as the employee gains
experience and
professional ability...clear
opportunities for
advancement, recognition
and increased pay." (GS
115C-363.2)
Rewarding effectiveness
Sixteen school units are imple-menting
the Career Development
Pilot Program as established by the
General Assembly. The goals of the
program are to attract and retain
good teachers by rewarding effec-tive
teaching and differentiating
responsibilities. Following the plan,
employees advance from initial, to
provisional, to Career I and Career II
status.
Teachers new to the profession or
new to North Carolina are provided
professional support by mentors or
support teams during the initial certi-fication
period of one or two years.
The mentors and support team mem-bers
work with the recently certified
employee to insure the development
of specified skills.
Upon successful completion of this
initial period, principals and obser-vers/
evaluators may recommend
that employees advance to Career
Status I. Three years later, at the end
of Career Status I, employees may
advance to Career Status II if they
have met the performance criterion.
Employees are awarded additional
salary at each career step.
In 1985-86, the 16 pilot units pre-pared
to implement the Career
Development Program.
• Employees in the pilot units
received training in effective teach-ing
practices. More than 900 edu-cators
also received training in the
observation and evaluation of
teaching performance.
• Pilot units established local steer-ing
committees of teachers, princi-pals
and central office staff to insure
communication and to assist with
decision-making.
• A state steering committee of48
members worked with the State
Department of Public Instruction to
develop policies and procedures for
implementing the career pilot
program.
Observers/evaluators are an important
part of the pilot program. Using a
prescribed method of observation and
data collection, observers and
principals provide direct feedback to
teachers and suggest ideas to improve
or expand teaching skills.
Observers/evaluators also assist
principals in teacher evaluation for
career status recommendations.
During the first years of the program,
approximately 97% of educators in the
pilot units agreed to participate in the
program. At the end of the first year,
about 75% of those employees were
awarded Career Status I; 12%,
provisional status; and 1 1%, initial
certification status. During the second
year of the program, about 76% of
eligible employees requested to be
In the spring of 1 986, employees were
surveyed about their impressions to
date of the Career Development
Program.
• 82% felt that observers/evaluators
provide fair and objective feedback on
performance.
• Most participants also felt the
training they received enables them to
improve their teaching skills.
• A total of57% agreed they perform
their role more effectively as a result of
participating in the program.
During 1986-87 the State Steering
Committee is defining criteria for
advancement to Career Status III,
specifying the additional professional
responsibilities for Career Status II
and III employees, and improving the
observation and evaluation skills of
principals and observers/evaluators.
After one and a halfyears of
implementation, the Career
Development Pilot Program has
already improved education in North
Carolina. The next two and a half
years are expected to further this
growth.
Total Number of Unit Employees and
Number (and Percentage) Awarded Career Status I 1985-86
Unit Total Career Status 1
Teacher Principal Other Teacher Principal Other
Alexander 263 16 12 171 (65%) 15 (94%) 9 (75%!
Burke 711 39 2 588 (79%) 36 (95%) 20 (100%)
Burlington 352 10 58 256 (73%) 9 (90%) 44 (88%)
Buncombe 1167 59 :',.
r
) 854 (73%) 45 (68%) 31 (89%)
Chowan 140 9 8 113 (81%) 9 (100%) 6 (75%)
Tarboro 1 82 6 13 1 L8 (65%) 3 (50%) 8 (62%)
Greene 168 9 13 145 (86%) 8 (89%) 12 (92%)
Roanoke Rapids 1 64 9 6 1 l.s (72%) 7 (78%) 4 (67%)
Harnett 633 20 33 491 (7»'"| 20(100%) 29 (88%)
Haywood 466 2.
r
> 20 365 (78%) 25 (100%) 18 (90%)
Montgomery 238 13 10 182 (76%) 1 1 (85%) 9 (90%)
New Hanover 1057 30 1 17 807 (76%) 23 (78%) 80 (68%)
Orange 32s 18 16 221 (68%) 17 (94%) 11 (69%)
Perquimans 99 6 6 80 (81%) 5 (83%) 5 (83%)
Salisbury L58 7 8 1 19 (75%) 7 (100%) 7 (88%)
TOTAL 6156 277 375 4631 (75%) 240 (87%) 293 (78%)
Effective Teaching Training
Improving performance
More than 43,000 employees in North
Carolina have participated in train-ing
designed to provide them with the
knowledge and skills necessary to be
effective educators.
The Effective Teaching Training
Program captures "the major com-ponents
of those teaching acts identi-fied
by research as associated with
effectiveness in the classroom." Effec-tive
Teaching Training is designed to
familiarize teachers with the new
performance appraisal instrument
scheduled for use throughout the
State by July 1987 to evaluate all
teachers.
The training program is composed of
10 three-hour sessions:
• Social Interaction
• Instructional Feedback
• Work-Related Activities
• Instructional Presentation
• Learning Evaluation
Other sessions in the program involve
planning and analyzing lessons, hold-ing
effective conferences with students
and parents, discussing discipline
problems and monitoring student
performance.
A participant-centered approach is
used in Effective Teaching Training.
Teachers use their own experiences in
discussions, role plays, case studies
and mini-lectures. Trainers model
desirable teaching skills throughout
the 30-hour program. Local school
employees were trained to lead the
sessions in their local units.
Some 1 3,500 teachers completing the
training received $250 stipends funded
by the General Assembly. (Career
Development Pilot Program teachers
received $500 stipends.) For 1987, the
State Board of Education has requested
additional funds from the General
Assembly for stipends for more than
22,000 teachers who completed the
training but have not yet received the
stipend.
In a survey administered to staffmem-bers
of the 16 Career Development
Pilot Programs, 75% stated positively
that Effective Teaching Training has
helped them analyze their own
professional skills and practices.
"...a one-time stipend of
$250 per person to
teachers in LEAs outside
the 16 Career Ladder
Pilots who were required to
complete 30 hours of
Teacher Effectiveness
Training prior to June 30,
1987." (GS 115C-363.7)
» Learning Expectations
» Instructional Monitoring
Time Management
• Student Interaction
Instructional Preparation
Teacher Recruitment Office
"...to coordinate and
administer a
comprehensive
teacher recruitment
effort. ..to encourage
members of minority
groups and individuals
who may not otherwise
consider undertaking or
continuing a career in
teaching to go into
and remain in the
teaching profession..."
(GS 11 5C- 363.15)
Attracting the best
The 1986 General Assembly
established the Teacher Recruitment
Office as part of the Teacher Enhance-ment
Program. One goal of the Office
is to identify subject and geographic
areas of need and recruit quality
teachers for those areas. The Office
will focus on recruiting minority
groups and on retaining quality
teachers who may otherwise consider
leaving the field within the first five
years of teaching.
Another goal of the Teacher Recruit-ment
Office is to offer incentives to
attract quality teachers and to dev-elop
a marketing plan to improve the
image of the teaching profession.
To assist the Office with its task, the
General Assembly mandated that 34
outstanding teachers, one from each
high school in the state, be appointed
to serve as teacher recruiters for their
schools. Each of the 341 teacher
recruiters will receive a $300 stipend
for the extra duties. To increase the
efficiency of this plan, the State
Board of Education approved the re-lease
of the eight regional winners in
the state Teacher of the Year
competition.
The regional winners are released from
their classrooms for a full year to work
directly with the Teacher Recruitment
Office. Their duties include assisting
the high school recruiters in their
regions, identifying quality candidates
for a eareer in teaching, disseminating
information on scholarship loans,
visiting schools to encourage members
of minority groups to begin
preparation for a teaching career,
coordinating efforts to involve
business and civic groups in helping
make teaching more rewarding, and
cooperating with colleges and
universities to increase teacher
enrollment.
Adding incentives
Four scholarship /incentive grant
loans will be administered by the
Teacher Recruitment Office:
• 200 scholarships at $2,000 a year for
four years for prospective teachers
entering college
• 150 scholarships not to exceed $1 ,000
for college tuition for college graduates
or certified teachers wishing to be
certified or recertified in areas of need
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• 1 50 scholarships not to exceed
$ 1 ,000 for tuition plus the minimum
salary for teacher aides for one year
for college graduates who serve as
substitutes or aides in local school
units and who agree to return to
college full- time to become certified
in an area of need.
• 1 50 incentives of $3,000 awarded one
time only to career teachers who have
been out of the classroom over three
years and who agree to teach in a
subject area or a geographic area of
need.
The Teacher Recruitment Office and its
network ofteacher recruiters will
continue to work for increased teacher
salaries, improved working conditions
for teachers, and a positive image of
the teaching profession in North
Carolina.
Quality Assurance
Raising standards
"...to implement on-the-job
training components
of the Quality Assurance
Program...for staff
development and training,
travel, training materials,
consultant services, and
staff coordination."
(SB 745- 1986 GA)
The State Board of Education and the
University Board of Governors
launched the North Carolina Quality
Assurance Program in 1978. During
the next three years, hundreds of
educators developed a systematic,
continuous and extended approach to
achieving "quality assurance" in
techer education and certification in
North Carolina. The work
culminated in 198 1 with a landmark
report for consideration and action
by the State Board of Education, the
University Board of Governors and
the General Assembly.
In response to the report the State
Board of Education adopted new
standards for the approval of teacher
education programs in colleges and
universities in 1 98 1 to. .
.
• establish teacher education as a six-year
developmental process with four
years offormal study at the college or
university level and two years ofcon-tinued
professional development and
supervision during initial certifi-cation
and employment;
• broaden responsibility for teacher
education to include colleges, univer-sities
and local school systems;
• establish a broad competency
assessment system beginning with
entry into a program of study and
continuing through initial
certification...with the basis for
continuing certification the demon-stration
of successful teaching perfor-mance;
• require qualified and competent fac-ulty,
improved counseling services,
strengthened admission and exit pol-icies
and extended field experience in
local school systems;
• state that students must achieve
minimum scores on the National
Teacher Examination prior to formal
admission to an approved teacher
education program;
• include core competencies required
for all teachers as well as competencies
and guidelines for 30 teacher education
programs; and
• strengthen the supervision of early
field experiences and student teaching
through close coordination ofcampus
and field-based activities.
The State Board of Education adopted
the Initial Certification Program in
1985.
The State has designed and the local
school systems are using an evaluation
and support system to assess the per-formance
of initially certified
personnel.
StaffDevelopment
Learning continues
The 1 986 General Assembly appro-priated
$4.4 million for local public
school units to train and develop
personnel in high priority areas of
need. This represents approximately
$40 for each of the approximately
108,000 public school personnel.
Training occurs most frequently in
the following areas:
• reading
• vocational education
• writing
• computer science
• mathematics
• teacher effectiveness
• science
• performance appraisal
• exceptional children
• mentor teacher training
Strategies used in training and
development vary from the traditional
methods of college courses, travel and
local workshops to telecommuni-cations
and independent study or
research.
Leadership Institute
The North Carolina Leadership
Institute for Administrators was
originally conceived and funded by
the 1979 General Assembly. The
purpose of the Institute is to provide
principals, assistant principals and
central office personnel with state,
regional and local level services to
assist with the implementation of
duties and responsibilities associated
with leadership at those levels.
Services provided by the Institute
include:
• Executive Assistants Program
• Short-Term Internships
• Business-Industry Liaison Program
• Technical Assistance
• Television Programs
• Training Programs
By the end of the 1986-87 school year,
the Institute will have provided over
70 training activities involving over
2000 public school administrators
with an annual appropriation of
$ 1 75,499 for training.
Assessment Center
Realizing the crucial role of the school
principal, the 1985 General Assembly
funded the North Carolina Assessment
Center for principals. The Center's
program is validated by the National
Association of Secondary School
Principals.
Under the program, trained assessors
evaluate the management potential of
candidates and prepare a report of
participants' strengths and areas
needing improvement.
The Center will be expanded in 1987 to
include the Springfield Project,
development opportunities in 12 skill
areas for prospective principals with
high potential.
Distance learning
The use of satellite technology is a
new and innovative method of
delivering information from one
location to another. Innovations and
improvements in technology make it
possible to provide instruction over
long distances. Once only available
to large corporations, these
technologies are becoming more
affordable and more flexible for use
in education.
Portions ofa federal grant were used
to test distance learning during 1985-
86 in three North Carolina school
systems--Graham County, Currituck
County and Roanoke Rapids City.
Currituck and Graham schools were
selected for their remoteness and
Roanoke Rapids, for the interest
shown by the administrators in using
technology to deliver instruction.
Instructing teaching staffs in the best
use of distance learning was the focus
of the project. By using the satellite
uplink at Appalachian State
University, five hours of training
were held. A telephone system set up
between ASU and the three high
schools involved in the project was
considered the essential element in
the two -way communication link.
Teachers at Currituck High, Stecoah
High and Roanoke Rapids High gave
the project a positive review. Totals
of94%, 100% and 83% ofthe teachers
in Currituck, Stecoah and Roanoke
Rapids respectively, were convinced
of the success of this project as an
effective delivery system. Also, 94%,
90% and 83% of the teachers in
Currituck, Stecoah and Roanoke mmj
m
Rapids were satisfied that satellite
broadcasts were effective methods of
implementing the more difficult to
achieve components of the Basic
Education Program.
Evaluation by participants indicated
they felt such a course to be most
applicable to schools trying to teach
courses in foreign languages, higher
mathematics and science and the
cultural arts. One superintendent
commented that this telecourse was
not as good as a full-time teacher, but
was better than not being able to offer
courses to students who needed them.
Adequate funding for implementing
instructional delivery by satellite is
necessary to deliver (by satellite)
instruction to teachers who lack skills
in new areas mandated by the Basic
Education Program. These areas
include foreign language and physical
education in elementary schools,
higher level mathematics and science
courses and cultural arts.
Teachers also need to be trained in this
new delivery method to help them use
it to teach students.
Meeting the BEP will require the
Department of Public Instruction to
place a satellite receive dish antenna
(TVRO) on 56 high school campuses
that have anticipated enrollments of
under 450 students each (estimated cost
$4500 each). These campuses will
receive supplementary instruction
through this medium.
Also, since there is limited program-ming
available for satellite broadcast
network, interactive programming
must be produced that allows teachers
and students to interact via long
distance telephone.
Larger schools will also need a TVRO
antenna to receive signals to
supplement and enhance their
instructional and staff development
programs. Eunds are included in the
expansion budget request to place at
least one antenna in every school
district. Also included in the cost of all
programming is the cost of production
and transmission of the courses.
Supply and Demand
Analyzing the market
The need for new teachers depends on
turnover rates, implementation of
the Basic Education Program, student
enrollment and the funding support
provided by federal, state and local
governments.
The two primary sources of
information concerning the supply of
potential teachers is the certification
file and the number of students
enrolled in teacher education
programs in colleges and
universities. Supplementing this
information is historical data on the
number of initial certifications
issued yearly.
Information from the teacher supply
and demand study will be used to:
• identify current and future areas of
potential teacher shortages,
• determine the allocation ofteacher
scholarships and loans,
• determine which curricular areas
in teacher education should be
expanded or reduced, and
• counsel teacher education students
concerning future employment
opportunities.
Matching supply to demand
The Applicant/Vacancy Clearinghouse
was added to help systems locate
qualified employees. This
computerized system matches
appropriately certified personnel
seeking public school employment in a
particular area of the state withjob
openings in that locale.
Certified educators applying to the
Clearinghouse indicate the geographic
area of the state where they would like
to work. Local school systems request
the names ofeducators with specific
certification requirements. The Clear-inghouse
matches thejob openings
with properly certified personnel and
notifies the local systems of the
applicant pool. Local school systems
then contact and interview prospective
employees.
Currently under development is a
process which would allow local school
systems to conduct their own remote
computerized searches from a bank of
certified educators seeking
employment.
Statewide estimates ofnew teachers needed through 1990-91 are:
1986-87 1987-88 1988-89 1989-90 1990-91
5,162 6,928 7,387 8.055 8,048
Initial Certification Program
Supportfor new personnel
The Initial Certification Program
began in 1985. Under the plan, local
school systems provide special
support to each individual's profes-sional
growth during the first two
years ofemployment in education.
Currently, 3790 initially certified
persons are in their first or second
year of the program.
New professionals receive support
from a mentor or support team. The
support team counsels new educators
and periodically assesses them to
insure satisfactory professional
growth. The assessments consist of
three observations using the Teacher
Performance Appraisal System/
Initial Certification or the instru-ment
currently in use for other profes-sional
groups. Professional develop-ment
plans are developed for the new
educators and revised as necessary.
At the end of two cycles of professional
enrichment and support, new
educators are eligible to receive Con-tinuing
Certification.
To enhance this program, the State
Agency developed a 24-hour Mentor/
Support Team Training Program. The
training program, modeled after the
highly successful Effective Teaching
Training Program, covers those skills
necessary to support mentors.
Currently under study is certification
endorsement for Supervisors of
Initially Certified Personnel/Student
Teachers.
Regional Education Centers
Delivering these services
Eight Regional Centers have been established in the eight education regions
of the state. Those Centers are:
1) Northeast Regional Education
Center, Williamston
5) North Central Regional Education
Center, Greensboro
2) Southeast Regional Education
Center, Jacksonville
6) Southwest Regional Education
Center, Charlotte
3) Central Regional Education
Center, Raleigh
4) South Central Regional Education
Center , Carthage
7) Northwest Regional Education
Center, North Wilkesboro
8) Western Regional Education
Center, Waynesville
The main goal of these Centers is to
provide comprehensive services to
the superintendents, central office
staff, administrators, and teachers of
the local public school systems in
their geographic areas of the state.
Those services include:
• serving as a broker for educational
services
coordinating the dissemination of
service, materials, and programs to
the local school systems in their
area
improving communications among
their various publics
providing consultant services to the
local school systems in their area
» serving as a liaison between the
general public, local education
agencies, and the State Education
agency
» interpreting educational policies to
their various publics
The eight Regional Education Centers
provide a vital link in improving and
maintaining effective education in our
state.
North Carolina Education Districts
Finance
Finance
Reporting system
The State Board's Uniform Reporting
System is rapidly moving toward full
implementation. The system consists
of five business management
projects: student accounting;
personnel accountability; fiscal
control; transportation management;
and local payroll and accounting
support.
STUDENTACCCOUNTING- The
Student Information Management
System (SIMS) provides the school
with an automated student accounting
system to keep track of student
attendance, scheduling and academic
progress. The system is able to
monitor, audit and forecast
information for timely and accurate
reporting. Some 420 schools, most of
them high schools, are currently
using SIMS.
PERSONNELACCOUNTABILITY-In
early 1987, a new professional
certification processing system will
begin reducing the certification
process backlog from three months to
less than two weeks. It will include
applicant status reporting and an
employment opportunities data bank.
An automated salary certification
and verification system, to be
completed in early 1988, will insure
timely and accurate salary payments
for teachers and administrators on a
monthly basis.
FISCAL CONTROL- The new
combined federal and state accounting
system, to begin in June, will better
control and streamline the processing
of monthly school system expenditure
reports. Access to current account
balances and transaction information
will assist local school systems in
their financial management.
TRANSPORTATION MANAGEMENT-Complete
installation of the State
Vehicle Fleet Management System in
all 100 school bus garages is scheduled
forJune of 1987. By fall, routing and
scheduling software will be available
for installation throughout the state.
LOCAL PAYROLLAND ACCOUNTING
SUPPORT- Through locally operated,
automated payroll and accounting sys-tems,
personnel and financial
information will be collected and
consolidated at the state level. The use
of local systems will provide accurate
and timely data uniformly and
achieve the fiscal accountability
required by state and federal laws and
regulations. By placing initial
priority on the non-automated units,
the legislative mandate to achieve
statewide financial reporting
objectives by the fall of 1987 can be
fulfilled.
Business Management Systems Development Projects
IMPLEMENTATION TIMETABLE
Management Area
Funding for
Local Support
Personnel
Accountability
Fiscal Control
Pupil Transportation
Transportation
Management (TIMS)
Fleet Management
Funding for
Local Support
Local Payroll &
Accounting & Data
Files Communications
Presently
Nonautomated
(38 units)
Presently
Automated
(102 units)
Funding for
Local Support
Legend: Design Project
Installation Project
State Funding
COMPARISON OF PER PUPIL EXPENDITURES
CURRENT EXPENSE EXPENDITURES ONLY
Year
Per Pupil Expenditiire, by Source Percent ofTotal
Stair Federal Local Total State Federal Local
1975 76 $692.06 $136.30 $206.92 $1,035.28 66.8 13.2 20.0
1976-77 747.18 149.12 230.22 1,126.52 66.4 13.2 20.4
1977-78 834.95 160.68 317.46 1,313.09 63.6 L2.2 24.2
1978-79 935.44 192.68 349.13 1,477.25 63.3 L3.I 23.6
1979-80 1.050.40 216.48 403.67 1.670.55 62.8 13.0 24.2
1980-81 1.243.36 248.08 452.87 1,944.31 63.9 12.8 23.3
1981-82 1,327.74 210.88 495.69 2,034.31 65.2 lot 24.4
1982-83* 1,344.98 220.06 523.54 2,088.58 64.4 10.5 25.1
1983-84 1.445.77 231.73 579.93 2,257.43 64.0 10.3 25.7
1984-85 1.687.55 238.37 648.93 2,574.85 65.5 9.3 25.2
Per pupil expenditures are calculated by using final average daily membership.
* 1 982-83 State figure does not include the bus replacement amounts for this year.
HISTORY OF CERTIFIED SALARY INCREASES
Legislative Increases Teacher with Bachelor's Degree
Across the Board Automatic Step Increase
5% 2.4%
7.5% 2.4%
2.4%
4% + $300 2.4%
6.5% 2.4%
6% 2.4%
5% + $200 2.4%
10% 2 .4% plus 6.3%
Annual Salary
$7,560-$10.710
$8.130-$1 1.510
$8,130-$11.510
$8.760 -$12,270
$9,330 -$13,070
$9,890 -$13,830
$10,380 $14,540
$12,390 $16,230
$13,010-$18.740
$13,010-$18,740
$13,660 $19,680
$15,680 -$22,590
$15.680 -$23,660
$16.700 -$25,200
Comments
One time bonus of$200
Salary schedule changed to
grade and step. Procedures
assured no one took a cut
in converting 13 pay levels
into 6 steps. All teachers
received 2.4% increase. In
addition, in conversion
process, they received to 6.3%
Across the board increase
effective Jan. 1, 1982 for
second half of 1981-82
school year. Total salary
steps allowable in range
increased to 8.
Salary schedule reformated
from grade and step to pay
level. Change had no
effect on salaries.
Those working continuously
for one school term
received one pay level
(4.8%); those working contin-uously
for two or more years
received 2 pay levels (9.6%).
Legislation added one pay level
to the range for a total of 9.
Community Services
Joining hands to.
"...statewide responsibility
to address systematically
alcohol and drug problems
of school aged youth..."
(GS115C-79)
...Fight alcohol and
drug abuse
During the first year of operation,
1985-86. the Alcohol and Drug Defense
Program, established by the General
Assembly in the Department of Public
Instruction, provided prevention and
intervention services to over 1500
people and trained over 4000 more to
get involved in the fight against drugs.
A survey ofdrug education activities
in the state reflects that no school
system to date has implemented a
comprehensive elementary through
high school drug defense program.
Some schools have developed projects
at specific grade levels and many are
just beginning to attack the problem.
Funds provided by the General
Assembly, totaling $250,000, have
recently been granted to 35 school
systems to address a number of
approaches in both rural and urban
settings.
In July 1986, ADD conducted a pilot
project called "Student Athletes
Summer Institute." Thirty-two rising
high school seniors were trained to
return to their schools to implement
projects with local school-based ADD
contacts.
Other projects undertaken by the ADD
staffmembers included:
• compiling a resource directory of
alcohol and drug services for
adolescents;
• identifying existing projects that are
effectively delivering prevention and
intervention services;
• consulting with school systems on
drug policies; and
• training school personnel.
A survey of drug use by adolescents in
North Carolina will be conducted this
spring. This survey, to be
administered to students in grades 7-
12, will provide information to plan
as well as evaluate prevention
/intervention strategies. Survey
results will be released at a statewide
conference that will focus on drug use
among adolescents and programs
which have proven to be effective in
curtailing drug use.
Also planned are three Student
Athletes Summer Institutes for July,
1987. Holding three sessions will
allow greater participation and more
positive role models for students.
ADD officials are also considering
piloting DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance
Education) in each of the education
regions during the 1987-88 school
year. DARE is a prevention
curriculum for fifth and sixth graders
using trained law enforcement officers
and teachers.
The ADD Program, through the regional consultants, provides services to all 140 local
education agencies (LEAs). The ADD staffworks with central office and local school
personnel, community agencies, and parent groups and provides direct services to over
3000 students. The services for the first year are summarized below:
CONSULTATION
Prevention Program Services
School Personnel
Community Agencies
Community Task Forces, Civic Clubs,
Parent Groups, etc.
Sub-Total
INDIVIDUALS
SERVED
340
145
276
761
Intervention Program Services
School Personnel
Community Agencies
Community Task Forces, Civic
Clubs, Parent Groups, etc.
Sub-Total
409
144
199
752
TOTAL Consultation Services were
provided to
TRAINING
15 13 individuals
INDIVIDUALS HOURS
Prevention Workshops
School Personnel
Parent/Community Groups
Community Agencies
Students
628 for a total of 10 1 .5 hrs.
240 for a total of 20
157 for a total of 11
1613 for a total of 75.5
Sub-Total 2638 for a total of 208
Intervention Workshops
School Personnel
Parent/Community Groups
Community Agencies
Students
408 for a total of 108 hrs.
33 for a total of 4
162 for a total of 17
11 58 for a total of _9
Sub-Total 1761 for a total of 138
TOTALTraining Services 4399 for a total of 554 hours
"...the State Board of
Education develops
performance standards
including the correlates
of effective dropout
prevention programs and
establishes indicators for
measuring the
effectiveness of
programs..." (GS 115C-70)
.Reduce dropouts
As part of the North Carolina Basic
Education Program, Dropout
Prevention was organized in the
schools to develop partnerships of
concerned educators and community
people to work together to prevent
dropping out and to provide the
opportunity for all students to reach
their full potential. The following
principles guide the program:
•School is for everyone.
•Every student should have
opportunities for success in school.
•Keeping students in school requires
addressing the broad range of
problems facing young people.
•All educators-teachers,
administrators, student services
staff, and others- -as well as the
community must work cooperatively
to reach the goals of dropout
prevention.
•A planned, comprehensive approach
creates a successful dropout
prevention effort.
Each school administrative unit in
North Carolina has an allocation of
state dropout dollars based on total
membership figures. This allocation
may be used to hire personnel to
implement dropout prevention
programs, which vary from system to
system based on individual needs.
Dropout prevention funds may be used
for full- or part-time positions to meet
the needs of the individual school
administrative unit.
/. 75
High-Risk Counseling In-School Suspension
\
^6
2 /
Transition
Alternative
o School
Ext. School
\ \ Day
\ 18
24 Academic Remed.
Other*
300
200
100
ISS JPC Alt Ext HRC Rem Tran Oth*
I I Full-time Part-time
State dropout prevention funds are used for a variety of program types which
serve high-risk students in grades 4 through 12.
A number of programs in dropout prevention exist across the state with personnel
to operate them funded by allocated state dropout prevention dollars and other
resources amassed by the individual school systems. The chart below shows
the types of programs and amount of funding used for each based on the 1985-86
school year.
FUNDING FOR DROPOUT PREVENTION PROGRAMS, 1985-86
PROGRAM STATE DROPOUT
FUNDS
OTHER FUNDING
SOURCES
PROGRAM TOTAL
In-School Suspension $8,291,468 2,264,003 10,555,471
Job Placement Center 834,845 1,153,233 1,988,078
Alternative School 185,093 212,427 397,520
Extended School Day 163,468 1,307,454 1,470,922
High-Risk Counseling 3,849,182 1,012,969 4,862,151
Academic Remediation 436,320 731,572 1,167,892
Transition 10,798 38,562 49,360
Other* 977,784 379,382 1,357,166
TOTAL 14,748,958 7,099.602 21,848,560
*Other programs include alternative classrooms, assistance to pregnant students,
assistance to single parents, dropout prevention identification, parent involve-ment,
coordination and liaison, and visiting teacher.
Students Served in
Dropout Prevention
1985-86.%
2169
Job Placement
...Child abuse and neglect
prevention programs are
iefined to be those
programs and services
which impact on children
and families before any
substantiated incident of
child abuse or neglect has
Dccurred...' (GS 110-147)
..Prevent child abuse
Child abuse continues to be a problem
ofepidemic proportions in North
Carolina. The Division of Social
Services Central Registry has recorded
nearly 29,000 reports of suspected
child abuse and neglect in one year. In
a series of statewide hearings the
Governor's Commission on Child
Victimization determined that child
abuse, both physical and sexual, is the
leading concern of North Carolina
citizens. Frequently, victims come to
agency attention as a result of other
problems: juvenile delinquency,
adolescent pregnancy, substance
abuse, attempted suicide, school
dropout, or runaway. Investigation of
these situations often uncovers a
history of child maltreatment.
In 1983 the North Carolina General
Assembly addressed the need to
intervene in the cycle of child abuse in
a preventive way by establishing the
Children's Trust Fund to be administered
by the North Carolina State Board of
Education. It is operated in
conjunction with the Board's
previously established Child Abuse
Prevention Program. The Trust Fund
concept has two purposes: to provide
seed money to develop and implement
prevention programs at a community
level, and to demonstrate through
these programs that prevention is a
viable concept so that communities
will in time assume responsibility in
supporting prevention services.
During the first year of funding, the
Trust was used to establish four model
prevention programs, totaling
approximately $ 1 00,000. In fiscal
years 1985-86 and 1986-87, Senate Bill
489 Section 3 appropriated the sum of
$250,000 to fund additional child
abuse prevention projects. This
special appropriation along with
revenue collected, made it possible to
allocate $542,043 to projects and
grants through fiscal year 1985. In
fiscal year 1986, 16 projects have been
funded totaling $595,293.
A comprehensive plan for preventing
child abuse and neglect contains
different but related community
programs, targeted to different
populations and reflecting different
phases of the family life cycle.
Programs that show promise have
been identified by the National
Committee for the Prevention of
Child Abuse to include:
• prenatal
• perinatal bonding
• infant interaction
• parents of high-risk infants
• home visitors
• self-help and neighborhood support
• crisis care
• child care
• child screening and treatment
• abused children programs
• lifeskills training
• education for adulthood
Since its beginning in 1 983, the
Children's Trust Fund has supported
every type of community program
across the state, encouraging the
growth ofcommunity based programs
that involve a varity of agencies.
Education, the only institution that
has access to the entire child
population, plays a key role in focusing
the resources and expertise of other
disciplines on the prevention of child
abuse.
"...to encourage greater
community involvement in
the public schools and
greater community use of
public school facilities."
(GS 115C-204)
...Open school doors
The Community Schools Act was
approved by the General Assembly in
1977 to:
• provide for the maximum use of
school facilities
• encourage community involvement
in schools
• support the use ofvolunteers
• promote open communication.
All North Carolina public schools now
have a Community Schools program
which annually brings thousands of
citizens into school facilities across
the state.
Adult evening classes, little league
sports, adult athletics, concerts, after-school
care and senior citizen events
are only a few of the activities
sponsored through Community
Schools. Gyms, classrooms,
auditoriums, cafeterias and ballfields
are where these activities take place,
putting to extended use the tremendous
tax investment in public school
facilities.
By working with recreation
departments, community colleges and
other local agencies and organizations
to plan and provide programs that
address the unique needs in local
communities, Community Schools
has helped identify and eliminate the
duplication of most services.
Just as communities have benefited
from the Act, so have schools,
advisory councils, volunteer programs
and business partnerships have
brought citizens into the schools to
help make decisions and to lend their
support to the educational process.
In addition, planned communication
efforts which include newsletters,
speakers bureaus, annual reports and
good media relations, are keeping
parents and citizens informed about
schools. Improved communication
has resulted in a new level of public
awareness and a growing degree of
citizen interest, involvement and
support.
The General Assembly currently
awards a grant of $29,282 to each
participating LEA to implement a
Community Schools program. A local
match of25% is required.
FY 1985-86
USE OF SCHOOL FACILITIES
COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT IN
SCHOOLS
Adult Evening Classes
Number of people enrolled in adult
evening classes
205,140
Number of adult evening courses
offered
6722
Number of school buildings used
for evening classes
610
Volunteers
Number ofvolunteers serving North
Carolina schools
145,900
Number of hours contributed by
volunteers
2,064,551
School-Business Partnerships
Total number ofpartnerships
8.398
Recreation
Number of people participating
in recreational activities
in gyms and on school grounds
3.341,662
Number of school sites used for
after school recreation
1237
Summer-Programs
Number of students and adults
participating in summer day
camps, enrichment classes, organized
recreation, etc.
13,405
After-School-Care
Number of school systems that
provide after school care
for students ofworking parents
55
Number of students enrolled
20,275
Meeting Sites
Number of times school facilities
were used as meeting sites and for
community, civic group, family
and church related functions.
78,858
Number of Education Foundations
39
Total dollars contributed by
foundations in '85-86
$1,427,300
Senior Citizens
Number of school systems
sponsoring special programs
and services for senior citizens
59
Community Schools Advisory
Councils
Number serving on Community
Schools Advisory Councils
4377
Legislative Services
...for monitoring...
irograms and reporting on
hem to the General
Assembly and the Joint
.egislative Commission on
lovernmental
)perations..."
Legislative Services
Communicating
the challenge
The Legislative Services Area of the
Department of Public Instruction was
established in July 1986. The Area
has two main charges- -to act as a
liaison between the Department and
the North Carolina General Assembly
and to monitor selected legislatively
mandated educational programs.
The Legislative Liaison Office of the
Legislative Services Area provides
timely, accurate and complete
information to the legislative staff,
legislative committees and individual
legislators. The main duties of the
Office are:
• covering all interim commissions/
committees of interest of the
Department
• preparing reports of the actions of
all interim commissions/committees
• assisting with the drafting of
educational legislation
• responding to requests for
information from the General
Assembly
The Monitoring Office of the Area
oversees the implemention of specified
educationally mandated programs.
This oversight consists ofa review of
current information on the programs,
on-site visits to local education
agencies, written questionnaires,
telephone surveys, data collection and
personal interviews. The Office
periodically makes oral or written
reports to the Education
Subcommittee, and the Joint
Legislative Commission on
Governmental Operations.
A few of the programs currently under
consideration are:
• Basic Education Plan
• Career Development Pilot Program
• Administrators' Training Programs
• Principals Assessment Center
• North Carolina Testing Program
• Alcohol/Drug Defense Program
• Dropout Prevention Funds
• Books for the Handicapped
Representing students
Also in response to recent legislation,
two students were appointed to serve in
an advisory capacity on the State
Board of Education. State
Superintendent Craig Phillips
welcomed Portia King of South
Mecklenburg (County) High School
and Gene Dunn ofT.C. Roberson High
School in Buncombe County to their
first Board meeting in November.
Reform Report Card
EDUCATIONALREFORM REPORT CARD
THE NATION NORTH CAROLINA
TEACHER EVALUATION
More than half of the states Since 1982, all school systems skills associated with increased
require evaluation of the have conducted annual student achievement. The new
performance of all teachers. performance evaluations of evaluation process is being
professional school employees. officially piloted in 24 school
In 1985, the evaluation system units and may be used by
for teachers was significantly other systems, on approval of
revised to include teacher the local board of education.
TEACHER CAREER LADDERS
More than half of the states In 1985, 16 school systems expertise in the classroom.
either have statewide career began piloting the Career The program will be tested
ladders or have pilot plans Development Program. The until June 1989, when the
in selected districts. program combines rewards for General Assembly will make
excellent performance, the new decisions about statewide
appraisal system, and implementation. Other school
increased and different systems are experimenting
responsibilities for with programs involving
professionals who have gained career ladder concepts.
TEACHER TESTING
Thirty states (up by 10 since A minimum score on the admission into teacher
1982) require competency tests National Teacher Examination education programs. Students
for initial certification. has been specified in North must pass the professional
Three states have competency Carolina since 1964. In 1985, knowledge and teaching
tests for all teachers. the State Board of Education specialty portions ofthe test in
adopted policies which require order to exit the program and
students to pass the receive initial certification.
communication skills and The state is preparing to
general knowledge portions of revalidate specialty
the test at the conclusion of the examinations and review the
sophomore year for formal minimum score requirement.
STUDENT TESTING
As of 1984-85, states required Since 1977, the state has in order to graduate. In 1985,
local districts to test their administered annual the state began requiring a score
students at least once between achievement and competency above the 25 percentile
grades 1 and 12. Thirty of testing programs. Students in order to be promoted from
these employ uniform state in grades 1,2,3, 6, and 8 are grades 3, 6, and 8. Additional
tests and standards. tested in mathematics, reading annual tests in science, social
and writing , and high school studies, algebra and biology
sophomores must pass a test of are currently being developed.
minimum competencies
TIME IN SCHOOL
Since 1983, five states In 1973, North Carolina Education Program in 1984.
lengthened and one shortened initiated 10-month employ- The plan, stipulating a
their school year. Three ment for its professional required minimum of 5.5
states have lengthened the school personnel including a hours of instructional time per
school day statewide. mandated 180 days of student per day, results in a
instruction. The state began an slight lengthening of the day in
58
eight-year phase-in of its Basic many schools.
THE NATION NORTH CAROLINA
KINDERGARTEN
Twenty-six states finance
a full-day kindergarten for
at least part ofthe children.
In 1986, a total of 646,000
children were enrolled in full-day
kindergarten, 1 ,64 1 ,400
were enrolled in half-day
kindergarten, and another 135,000
were enrolled in alternating days
or some other part-time pattern.
In 1977, North Carolina
became the first state to
implement a full-day
kindergarten on a statewide
basis. More than 90 percent
ofall eligible children (80,000)
are currently enrolled in
kindergarten.
TEACHER SALARIES
Salaries rose in all states but
one over the last two years,
beating the 4 percent annual
inflation rate in four out of five
states. Average salaries rose
$3,312 during that time (7.3
percent per year). The national
average teacher salary is now
$25,257.
Average North Carolina
teacher salaries rose $4,280
(23 percent) over the last two
years. The average North
Carolina teacher salary
is now $22,591.
TEACHERAIDES
*
Data not available on a
nationwide basis.
In 1975, North Carolina
began the enhancement of
its early childhood education
program by adding an adult
teacher aide in each
kindergarten classroom.
Shortly thereafter, this
concept of a second adult in
the classroom was expanded to
include grades 1, 2, and 3.
Currently, all grades K-3
have teacher aides for the
full school day.
GRADUATION REQUIREMENTS
Twenty-eight states increased
graduation requirements since
1983, mainly in mathematics
and science.
The state's Basic Education
Program requires 20 units of
credit in grades 9 through 1
2
in order to graduate from high
school. The two additional
units, to be determined by the
local school system, became
effective in 1986-87. The 20
units include: four in English;
two in mathematics; two in
social studies (one in
government and economics
and one in United States
history); two in science, (one in
a life science or biology and
one in a physical science) ; one
in physical education and
health; and nine to be
determined by the local
education agency.
59
Recommendations
Recommendations
Continuing the momentum
Two years ago. North Carolina
implemented an eight -year plan of
improvement in public education.
Called the Basic Education Program,
the plan, along with the Career Dev-elopment
Program and our efforts to
raise public school employee salaries,
continue to be top priorities in achiev-ing
excellence and equity in public
schools throughout the state.
Recommendation I
Fund the third andfourth years ofthe
Basic Education Program with a
commitment tofullfunding by 1993.
The 1987-89 allocations keep intact
the implementation schedule and
fund, at least in part, the following
major portions of the Basic Education
Program:
Personnel: A phase-in of teachers to
reduce class size in grades 10- 12, to
enhance programs in grades K- 1 2,
and to implement the in-school
suspension program. Full state fund-ing
ofvocational education teachers.
Certified and clerical support posi-tions
in addition to assistant adminis-trative
positions to achieve recom-mended
staffing levels. Staff develop-ment
funds to guarantee training for
educators.
Summer School: Full implemen-tation
of the summer school program,
begun last year, for pupils who fail to
meet state and local promotion stand-ards
or who meet standards but still
need remedial instruction.
Pre-School Screening: A compre-hensive
program to identify
youngsters with potential learning
problems prior to school entry. Screen-ing
includes speech, hearing, sight,mo-tor
skills, health and maturity levels.
Dropout Prevention: A program in
middle grades through grade 1 2 to iden-tify
high-risk students and to prevent
their dropping out of school.
Exceptional Children: Full imple-mentation
of programs for exceptional
children by adjusting the funding
formula by removing internal caps.
Instructional Supplies and Textbooks:
Instructional supplies and textbooks
to complete recommended material
sup-port.
School Facilities: An integral part of
the Basic Education Program is an en-hanced
set of standards for school
facilities, to be constructed with funds
derived from the 1/2* local option
sales tax enacted by the 1985 General
Assembly. Preliminary data indicates
that more than two billion dollars will
be needed to meet Basic Education
facility standards.
Recommendation II
Continue the second and third year
funding ofa salary schedulefor public
school employees.
Last year, the State Board of Edu-cation
adopted a four-year plan to
implement a salary schedule for edu-cators
by providing annual increases
of 7%. Starting teacher salaries
would move to $17,952 in 1987-88 and
to $19,202 in 1988-89.
Recommendation III
Complete the remaining two years of
the Career Development Pilot Pro-gram
in preparationfor state-wide
implementation in 1 989-90.
The Career Development Pilot Pro-gram
is proving that it can impact on
the recruitment and staying power of
teachers by offering not only finan-cial
incentives, but opportunities for
growth and development. Over the
next two years,
Recommendation W
Complete business management
system projects in student accounting,
personnel accountability,fiscal
control, transportation management,
and local payroll and accounting
support.
The modernizing and automating of
various management systems will
reduce paperwork, improve
management functions, and insure
timely, accurate and uniform
reporting.
Recommendation V
Continue to explore new approaches
to learning and expand the use of
technology.
Recent state and national education
reforms have prompted the initiation
of model programs in second lang-uages
and international education
and a "distance learning by satellite"
project in small, rural schools,
added attention will be given to those
new (initially certified) teachers and
administrators in our schools to re-duce
the number leaving the pro-fession
and insure high qualifyjob
performance.
Recommendation VI
Continue to explore the most effective
and efficient ways to provide programs
for three- andfour-year-olds.
Research has shown that the first four
years of a youngster's existence are
perhaps the most critical in his or her
life. Involving the state's public
schools in providing child care for pre-schoolers
is an urgent need.
Providing the Funds
Total Salary Increase
Total Basic Education Program
Total Career Development Items
Total
Total Other Items
Total Request
Department of Public Instruction
Controller's Office Request
1987-88
$165,574,775
149,243,743
(2,803)
18,109,991
(16)
1988-89
$309,934,974
251,831,037
(5,946)
24,415,133
(16)
332,928,509
(2,819)
58,118,923
(144)
586,181,144
(5,962)
39,144,809
(144)
$391,047,432
(2,963)
$625,325,953
(6,106)
$3,646,094
(89)
$3,517,619
(89)
$617,472
(17)
$880,720
(17)
88 Expansion Budget
Basic Education Program 38°/
Salary Increases 39%
Career Development -6%
State Agency 1
Other LEA Programs 14%
1988-89 Expansion Budget
Basic Education Program 42%
State Agency,
Salary Increases 45%
mKPrograms 5%
iment 7%
sutions to Meeting the
qauenge included photographs
from the following school systems
and newspapers:
Alamance County Schools
Burlington Times-News
Caldwell County Schools
Dare County Schools
Davidson County Schools
Edgecombe County Schools
Gaston County Schools
Halifax County Schools
The Kinston Free Press
McDowell County Schools
Mooresville City Schools
Pitt County Schools
Polk County Schools
Robeson County Schools
Winston-Salem /Forsyth Schools
For More Information
Raise your hand...
For additional information on the
summaries in Meeting the Challenge
and other legislative initiatives in
North Carolina public schools,
contact:
Margaret Hayden, Assistant State
Superintendent, Legislative Services
North Carolina Department of Public
Instruction
Education Building
1 1 4 West Edenton Street
Raleigh, North Carolina 27603-1712
919/733-3813
Publishing information
Meeting the Challenge, the State
Superintendent's Biennial Report
1985-87, was developed by the
Legislative Services Area of the
Department of Public Instruction for
distribution to the Governor and to
members of the North Carolina
General Assembly.
The report was prepared for
publication by the Department's
Division of School-Community
Relations. Order additional copies
from room 362 in the Education
Building, 919/733-4258-
STATE LIBRARY OF NORTH CAROLINA
3 3091 00748 1823
DATE DUE
\PR 19 1990
c*v L o»o '«""«-"»•-
ISSUED BY THE STATE SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION